STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Koivisto – 18 points (7-10 FG, 3-5 3-PT, 1-4 FT), 9 rebounds
• Junior Jess Knight (Hanover, Mass.) – 16 points (5-12 FG, 6-10 FT), 12 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Senior Jenna Roche (Braintree, Mass.) – season-high 16 points (5-10 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 4-5 FT), 5 rebounds, 3 assists

KEY MOMENTS

• Southern New Hampshire began the game on a 7-0 run, with Knight scoring the first four and Koivisto burying a 3-pointer just 1:35 in. The gap was nine at 14-5 with just under four minutes to play when Pace closed the quarter with a 12-2 rush that flipped it into the lead at 17-16.
• The Penmen responded by starting the second stanza with a 17-4 blitz – with six points from Koivisto and four from senior Adriana Timberlake (Braintree, Mass.) – that put the hosts in front, 33-21, midway through the quarter. The margin was 10 at 35-25 with less than three minutes left when five points from Roche powered a 7-0 run that expanded the Penmen lead to 42-25 with 1:57 on the clock. SNHU would go into the break with a 49-34 advantage.
• A 13-3 barrage from Pace early in the second half would slash its deficit to 54-50 with 4:10 to play in the third quarter. A 5-0 counter-run featuring three Roche points gave SNHU a 61-52 lead at the end of three.
• The Penmen led, 75-68, with over a minute to play when a pair of Pace 3-pointers trimmed the deficit to 75-74 with 25 seconds on the clock. SNHU missed a pair of free throws, but the Setters turned it over with 10 seconds left and Roche buried a pair of free throws to make it a three-point game. Pace's trey at the buzzer was no good.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Sophomore Sydney Devries (Monson, Mass.) posted nine points (4-5 FG, 1-1 FT) and six boards.
• Timberlake tallied eight points (2-12 FG, 4-6 FT), three rebounds, six assists and a pair of blocks.
• Junior Julia Colby (So. Paris, Maine) notched four points (2-3 FG, three rebounds and three assists.
• Graduate student Mia Roy (Bedford, N.H.) chipped in four points (1-2 FG, 2-2 FT) and two rebounds.
• SNHU outshot Pace, 47.3 percent (26-55) to 37.7 percent (26-69), while the Setters returned the favor from long range, 45.8 percent (11-24) to 27.8 percent (5-18).
• Pace was also perfect from the line (11-11), while SNHU shot just 66.7 percent (20-30), including 4-for-10 in the second half.
• The Penmen captured the glass (40-37) and the paint (40-24), and scored more points on the fast break (11-2), while the Setters gathered more points off turnovers (15-7) and turned in a better assist-to-turnover ratio (14/8-16/13). Seconds chance points (13-13) and bench scoring (27-28) were even.

NOTES

• SNHU remains in second place all alone, a full game behind first-place Assumption University.
• The Penmen improve to 7-2 at home and have captured seven of the last eight at the Field House.
• Pace leads the all-time series with SNHU, 21-11, but the Penmen have won six of the last nine meetings, including three of four at home. SNHU sweeps the regular-season series with the Setters, after also winning, 77-66, at Pace on Dec. 3.
• SNHU is 35-11 (.761) since the start of the 2021-22 season.
• Knight has 11 double-doubles in the 16 games in which she has played this season.
• Roche's 16 points were one shy of her career high, which she set Dec. 1, 2019 against the University of Bridgeport.
• This marked just the second time in 18 games this season Timberlake did not reach double figures in points

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen are back in action Wednesday, Feb. 1 (5:30 p.m.) when they take on Bentley University.
• The next home contest for SNHU is Saturday, Feb. 11 (1:30 p.m.) when it plays host to the College of Saint Rose on Pink Day at the Stan Spirou Field House.