STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Timberlake – 21 points (7-18 FG, 3-8 3-FG, 4-4 FT), career-high 8 assists
• Junior Jess Knight (Hanover, Mass.) – 14 points (7-14 FG), 11 rebounds
• Graduate student Mia Roy (Bedford, N.H.) – 14 points (3-8 FG, 2-3 3-FG, 6-6 FT), 2 rebounds, 2 assists

KEY MOMENTS

• Southern New Hampshire opened the game on a 12-3 run over the opening 4:13, with Timberlake scoring the first five points and Roy netting the final five. The Purple Knights would close the gap to five at 16-11 at the end of the first quarter.
• A Roy bucket at the 5:55 mark of the second stanza gave the Penmen their largest advantage of the afternoon at 26-16, but Saint Michael's would answer with an 11-2 charge that trimmed its deficit to a single point at 28-27 with 1:35 left before the break. The teams swapped baskets and would go into the locker room with SNHU in front, 30-29.
• After Roy knocked down a 3-pointer to open the second half, seven straight put Saint Michael's in front, 36-33, just under 90 seconds in. A 9-2 counter-run – with five points from Timberlake and four from Knight – lifted the Penmen back into the lead at 42-38 with 3:30 left in the third. The score was tied when SNHU capped the quarter with back-to-back triples from Timberlake and Koivisto to bring a 48-42 lead into the final frame.
• The Purple Knights would eventually even the score at 53-all with 1:50 on the clock, but the Penmen would go 6-for-6 from the line down the stretch and end the game on an 8-0 run to extend their winning streak.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Sophomore Sydnie DeVries (Monson, Mass.) tallied five points (2-3 FG, 1-2 FT), four boards and three steals.
• Freshman Meghan Gordon (Attleboro, Mass.) recorded four points (2-6 FG) and seven rebounds.
• Senior Ariana Koivisto (Pomfret, Conn.) posted three points (1-9 FG, 1-4 3-FG), seven rebounds and two assists.
• SNHU outshot Saint Michael's, 37.3 percent (22-59) to 29.7 percent (19-64), including 37.5 percent (6-16) to 28.6 percent (8-29) from downtown. The Penmen also shot it better from the line, 91.7 percent (11-12) to 70 percent (7-10).
• The Penmen captured the paint (26-14) and turned in a more impressive assist-to-turnover ratio (14/13-9/15), while the Purple Knights won the glass (42-39) and gathered more second chance points (9-6). Points off mistakes were even at eight apiece.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, which is receiving votes in the most recent D2SIDA Media Poll, matches the program's longest win streak (1987-88) with its ninth consecutive victory.
• At 7-1 in the NE10, the Penmen remain tied for first with Assumption University and Bentley University.
• Saint Michael's still leads the all-time series with Southern New Hampshire, 31-23, but SNHU has won eight of the last nine meetings, including five straight. The Penmen have also won three-in-a-row on the road against the Purple Knights, who have not won a game at home against SNHU since Feb. 6, 2019 (76-68).
• Knight's double-double is her eighth of the season and the 10th of her career.
• Timberlake, who has scored 10 or more points in 12 of 13 contests this year, is in the midst of a nine-game, double-digit scoring streak, during which, she is netting 18.7 ppg. She ranks second in the NE10 at 17.4 points per game. 
• SNHU improves to 32-9 (.780) since the start of the 2021-22 season.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen are back in action Tuesday, Jan. 10 (5:30 p.m.) when they play host to the University of New Haven at the Stan Spirou Field House in a game that will air live on WGIR 610-AM and Fox Sports 930-AM.