COLCHESTER, Vt. – Nicole Adach finished with 18 points as Saint Michael's College upended Southern New Hampshire University 72-60 in Northeast-10 women's basketball Tuesday night at the Ross Sports Center.  The Purple Knights improved to 12-14 and 9-13 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are now 19-9 overall and 14-8 in the NE-10.

Despite the loss, the Penmen have earned the No. 5 seed in the Northeast-10 Tournament and secured a first-round bye.  Southern New Hampshire will travel to fourth-seeded Franklin Pierce University for a quarterfinal round contest on Sunday (2/26) at 1:30 pm.  The Ravens swept both regular season meetings by scores of 63-51 and 67-62.

Adach finished 8-10 from the floor to lead five Purple Knights in double figures.  Coreen Hennessy was 11-12 at the free throw line and totaled 15 points and six assists, while Cara Deroy totaled 14 points on 6-12 shooting.  Megan Olsen notched 11 points off the bench, while Caitlin Quinn knocked down a pair of three pointers and finished with 10 points.

Sloane Sorrell (Berwick, Maine) led Southern New Hampshire with 24 points on 10-15 shooting while also grabbing five rebounds.  Michelle DeRoma (West Roxbury, Mass.) knocked down three three-pointers and finished with 15 points, while Christine Duffy (South Boston, Mass.) recorded eight points and eight assists.  Megan Smith (Smithfield, Maine) added nine points off the bench.

Saint Michael's led 34-26 at halftime and opened up a 60-42 lead with just under eight minutes remaining following a pair of free throws by Hennessy.  Southern New Hampshire used a 10-2 run to pull within 10, 62-52, with 4:32 left on a layup by Smith.  The Penmen pulled within eight, 63-55, on a Sorrell layup with 3:08 to go, but the Purple Knights sealed the victory by going 9-10 at the free throw line in the final 1:43.

Southern New Hampshire trailed early in the first half, but took its first lead, 14-13, with 11:27 remaining in the first half on a basket by Megan Spanarkel (Tinton Falls, N.J.).  Saint Michael's retook the lead for good with a pair of Hennessy free throws with 7:26 left that gave the hosts a 19-18 lead.  A Deroy three with 5:22 to go before halftime capped a 7-0 Purple Knight spurt and made it 22-18.  SMC closed the half on a 12-5 run and took a 34-26 halftime lead.

Saint Michael's shot 66.7% (10-15) from the floor in the second half and 54.3% for the game while Southern New Hampshire shot 43.9% for the contest.  The Purple Knights were 18-20 at the free throw line and finished 4-9 behind the arc, while the Penmen were 5-8 at the free throw line and knocked down just five of their 19 three-point attempts.  The hosts held a 31-20 rebounding advantage.