ALBANY, N.Y. – Three players reached career highs in the scoring column as Southern New Hampshire University downed The College of Saint Rose 80-59 in Northeast-10 women's basketball Saturday afternoon at Nolan Gymnasium.  The Penmen, who snapped an eight-game slide with the win, improve to 6-10 overall and 4-7 in the NE-10, while the Golden Knights are now 8-9 and 3-8 in the league.

The Penmen were led by freshman Sara Ryan (Quincy, Mass.), who went 5-6 behind the three-point arc en route to a career-best 22 points.  She finished 8-10 from the floor.  Sophomore Erin Doherty (Marshfield, Mass.) matched her career high with 20 points on 9-14 shooting, with 17 of her points coming in the first half.  She also grabbed six rebounds.  Junior Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H.) set a career high with 19 points, going 8-8 at the free throw line, while classmate Lorreta Rocha (Espargos, Cape Verde) totaled seven points, five assists and three steals.

The win marked SNHU's largest margin of victory of the season and the 80 points were a season high.

The Golden Knights were paced by Desiree Simmons' 12 points, while Gabie Polce and Jess DeNicola had 10 points apiece.

Saint Rose trailed 37-28 at halftime, but pulled within four, 42-38, three minutes into the second half following a conventional three-point play by Simmons.  Southern New Hampshire countered by putting the game away with a 17-2 run capped by a layup by Kelly Chergey (Bow, N.H.) with just over 10 minutes left that put the Penmen on top 59-40.  The guests had the final 13 points of the run, and after a Polce basket with 15:31 left that made it 46-40, the Penmen held the Golden Knights without a field goal until a Sarah Illingworth basket at the 7:42 mark.  SNHU led by as many as 23 points over the final 20 minutes.

Southern New Hampshire jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and while Saint Rose tied the game three times, the last on a Simmons basket 8:46 before halftime that made it 16-16, never took the lead.  SNHU led 21-20 when it embarked on a 10-1 run capped by two Springfield free throws to take a 31-21 lead with 3:35 to go, and the Penmen took a 37-29 lead into the locker room.

The Penmen shot 57.1% in the second half and 52.6% for the game while limiting the Golden Knights to 35.5% shooting for the contest.  Southern New Hampshire went 14-18 from the free throw line, knocked down six of its 11 three-point attempts, and held a 41-34 rebounding advantage.

SNHU returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to No. 21 Adelphi University for a 5:30 Northeast-10 contest.  The next Penmen home game is slated for Saturday, January 25, when SNHU welcomes Le Moyne College for a 1:30 tipoff at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

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