VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Trailing 43-33 at halftime, Southern New Hampshire University opened the second half on a 12-0 run and outscored the University of Bridgeport 44-21 over the final 20 minutes en route to a 77-64 non-conference women's basketball victory Monday evening at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen won their fifth straight to improve to 8-6, while the Purple Knights drop to 2-10 on the season.

Graduate student Victoria Wiseman (Montreal, Quebec) led Southern New Hampshire with 21 points on 7-10 shooting and a 7-8 effort from the free throw line, totaling 15 of her points after intermission.  She also grabbed six rebounds.  Erin Doherty (Marshfield, Mass.) tallied 15 points on 7-10 shooting, while Brooke Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H.) added 14 points and six rebounds.  Sara Ryan (Quincy, Mass.) notched nine points and six assists, while Catherine Stinson (Lynn, Mass.) added nine points.

Tiara Aziz paced Bridgeport with 17 points off the bench, going 8-9 from the floor, while Jennifer Kucukkaya added 11 points and seven assists.  Casey Bray finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Jenna Hoffman added 10 points.

Southern New Hampshire scored 12 straight points over the first 4:29 of the second half to take a 45-43 lead on a basket by Doherty.  After the Purple Knights stopped the run with a Aziz basket that tied the game, the Penmen scored the game's next six points to open a 51-45 lead with 13:42 remaining.  The hosts held a 53-47 lead when an 8-2 Bridgeport run tied the game 55-55 just past the midway point.

Bridgeport took its first lead since early in the frame, 59-57, on an Aziz basket with 6:51 left, but the lead was short-lived, as back-to-back threes by Springfield, the second at the 5:20 mark, put the Penmen on top for good.  SNHU reeled off 11 straight points to build a 68-59 lead with three minutes to go and maintained a comfortable margin the rest of the game.

The first half saw six ties and four lead changes, but Bridgeport used a 13-5 run capped by a Hoffman three to lead 27-19 with just over eight minutes to go before halftime.  Southern New Hampshire got the lead down to two, but the Purple Knights used a late 10-1 run to lead 43-30 with a minute to go.  A Stinson three with 41 ticks on the clock made it a 43-33 game at the break.

Southern New Hampshire shot 61.5% (16-26) over the final 20 minutes and 50.9% for the game while limiting Bridgeport to 39.4% shooting for the contest.  The Penmen took 17 more trips to the free throw line, going 15-21 while the Purple Knights went just 1-4 at the stripe, as the hosts committed just seven fouls on the evening.  SNHU held a 41-36 rebounding advantage and raced out to 16 fast break points.

The Penmen return to action Wednesday night when it hosts Southern Connecticut State University in a 5:30 Northeast-10 contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  That game can be seen live on NESNplus and heard in the Manchester area on WGIR 610 AM.

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