BOX SCORE

When and Where: January 4, 2017 – Manchester, N.H. (SNHU Fieldhouse)
Score: College of Saint Rose 53, Southern New Hampshire University 47
Records: Saint Rose 8-5 (3-4 NE10), SNHU 7-7 (3-5 NE10)

Senior Sara Ryan (Quincy, Mass.) scored 12 points, but the Southern New Hampshire University women's basketball team fell short against the College of Saint Rose on Wednesday evening, 53-47 at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

Ryan was 3-for-10 from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the stripe to go along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Karissa Birthwright paced the Golden Knights with 16 points, nine rebounds and a pair of blocks.

With Southern New Hampshire leading, 42-41, with just over seven minutes remaining, a Taylor Nazon three-point play gave Saint Rose the lead for good as Nazon and Birthwright followed with hoops to extend the advantage to 48-42 with 3:06 remaining. A put-back of her own miss from junior Jennifer Shelp (Apalachin, N.Y.) and huge 3-pointer from sophomore Brianna Camara (Fall River, Mass.) closed the gap to just one at 48-47 with 33 seconds on the clock.

That was as close as the Penmen would get, however, as Saint Rose scored the final five points of the game on 5 of 6 shooting from the line.

Camara registered six points (2-6 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 1-1 FT), five rebounds and two assists, while Shelp chipped in four points (2-6 FG) and four boards.

Saint Rose jumped out to a 7-2 lead over the opening three minutes as three points from Staci Barrett led the charge. After a Britani Stowe basket ran the lead to seven at 13-6 with 2:19 to go in the first quarter, a layup from Ryan and a 3-pointer from freshman Victoria Dean (Plymouth, Mass.) trimmed the Southern New Hampshire deficit to 13-11 at the end of one.

Five straight points to begin the second stanza nudged the Saint Rose lead back to seven at 18-11 under a minute in, but a 5-0 spurt later in the frame cut the SNHU deficit to just one at 20-19 with 7:48 to play. The Golden Knights would hang on to their lead with two straight buckets that expanded the lead to five and they would eventually carry a 32-29 lead into the break.

SNHU would open the second half with a 7-2 run that was capped by three straight points from junior Catherine Stinson (Lynn, Mass.) to grab its first lead of the night at 36-34 with 5:45 to play in the third. A lead change and two ties would follow before a Birthwright jumper just before the buzzer would give Saint Rose a 41-39 edge heading into the final frame.

A Ryan jumper just 18 seconds in would tie the game at 41-all before 1 of 2 at the line from Stinson gave the Penmen their final lead of the night at 42-41 with 9:05 to play.

Sophomore Kylie Lorenzen (Holliston, Mass.) posted seven points (3-7 FG, 1-2 3-FG), seven rebounds and two steals, with Dean also contributing seven points (3-8 FG, 1-5 3-FG). Stinson chipped in six points (2-5 FG, 2-4 FT) and three rebounds.

Notes:
-The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for the Penmen, while Saint Rose won its fifth straight.
-Saint Rose outshot Southern New Hampshire, 44.4 percent (20-45) to 30.8 percent (16-52), including 20 percent (2-10) to 14.3 percent (3-21) from beyond the arc.
-SNHU was much more efficient from the line, 80 percent (12-15) to 55 percent (11-20).
-The Golden Knights controlled the glass (38-30) and the paint (30-20), in addition to producing a better assist-to-turnover ratio (10/18-8/15).

Up Next:
The Penmen return to action Saturday, Jan. 7 (1:30 p.m.) when they take on American International College. The next home game for SNHU is Tuesday, Jan. 10 (5:30 p.m.) when it plays host to Roberts Wesleyan College in non-conference action at the Fieldhouse.

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