MANCHESTER, N.H. – Jeanette Anderson totaled 34 points and 13 rebounds to lead Caldwell College to a 76-71 non-conference women's basketball victory over Southern New Hampshire University Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  Both teams now stand at 5-6 on the season.

Anderson scored 21 of her points in the second half and finished 14-19 at the free throw line and 10-18 from the floor while also handing out four assists.  Emily Caswell was the other Cougar in double figures, as she finished with 15 points, 13 of those coming in the first half.  Alyssa James added nine points while grabbing 15 rebounds.

Sophomore Amra Elezovic (Manchester, N.H.) led Southern New Hampshire with 19 points and five rebounds, scoring 11 of those points in the second half.  Junior Kaylea Griffin (Green Springs, Ohio) finished with a career-high 17 points, going 8-9 from the floor, while also grabbing nine rebounds, while classmate Lorreta Rocha (Espargos, Cape Verde) added 10 points.

Southern New Hampshire trailed 40-29 at halftime, but opened the second half on a 14-6 run to pull within three, 46-43, on a conventional three-point play by Elezovic at the 16:46 mark.  Caldwell pushed the lead back to seven before a 12-2 run capped by Rocha's three-point play with 11:44 remaining gave the Penmen their first lead since the game's opening moments, 57-54.

The hosts built their largest lead, 63-57, with just under eight minutes left following a putback by junior Chelsea Dunham (Johnson, Vt.), before the Cougars scored 10 of the game's next 14 points to tie the game 67-67 with 3:54 left on a pair of Anderson free throws.  Caldwell extended the run to 15-4 and took a 72-67 lead with just over two minutes left following a three from the left corner by Jessica Coscia.

Griffin scored on SNHU's next possession to make it 72-69, and following a Caldwell turnover, the Penmen had a chance to cut the lead to one or tie, but an Elezovic jumper was off the mark with 1:11 left and the guests grabbed the rebound.  The Cougars went just 4-8 at the free throw line over the final minute, but that was enough to secure the victory.

Caldwell trailed just once in the first half, at 3-2 45 seconds into the game, and opened up a 13-5 lead 5:40 into the game following a Caswell three-point play.  The Penmen trailed 23-14 when they went on a 8-2 run capped by a Bianca Langford (Worcester, Mass.) basket with 5:33 left in the opening frame to trail 25-22.    The Cougars countered with a 15-3 run and opened a 40-25 lead with less than a minute left, and took a 40-29 lead into intermission.

The Cougars shot 55.2% (16-29) in the first half and 43.6% for the game while Southern New Hampshire shot 51.4% 918-35) over the final 20 minutes and 40.6% for the contest.  Caldwell went to the free throw line 14 more times, shooting 24-34, while the Penmen were 13-20 at the stripe.  The guests, who held a 45-36 rebounding advantage, were 4-12 behind the arc, while SNHU was 2-16 from three.  Caldwell committed eight more turnovers than Southern New Hampshire, giving the ball away 22 times to the hosts' 14, but both teams had 12 points off miscues in the contest.

Southern New Hampshire is idle until Sunday, January 5 when it travels to Chestnut Hill College for a 1:00 non-conference contest.  The next Penmen home game is set for Saturday, January 11 when SNHU hosts American International College in a 1:30 Northeast-10 contest.

For the latest on Southern New Hampshire University athletics, follow the Penmen via social media on Twitter (@snhupenmen), Facebook (www.facebook.com/snhupenmen), Youtube (www.youtube.com/snhupenmen) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/snhupenmen).