STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Gordon – 10 points (5-13 FG), 7 rebounds
• Sophomore Abby Wager (Mansfield, Mass.) – 9 points (3-7 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 2-2 FT)

KEY MOMENTS   

• Saint Michael's jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the opening 3:45 and then later used a 5-0 spurt to increase its advantage to 16-7 with 90 seconds left in the opening quarter. The Purple Knights would lead 18-11 after one.
• SMC would begin the second stanza by scoring four of the first five points to nudge the lead to an even 10 at 22-12 less than two minutes in. After Southern New Hampshire trimmed the deficit to six, a 9-0 burst that took just 1:15 of game time ballooned the Purple Knights' lead to 31-16 with 3:35 to go before the break. Five straight from Wager in the final 1:42 shrunk the halftime margin to 10 at 33-23.
• Saint Michael's used an 8-2 run in the third quarter to go up by 16 (45-29) with 2:11 on the clock. It would carry a 47-31 advantage to the final frame.
• The Purple Knights grabbed their largest lead of the game at 49-31 less than three minutes into the fourth and still led by 18 at 54-36 with under three minutes to play when the Penmen closed the game on a 6-0 run.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Freshman Taylor Brennan (Southbury, Conn.) posted six points (2-7 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 1-2 FT) and five rebounds.
• Sophomore Ava Winterburn (New Boston, N.H.) netted six points (2-4 FG, 2-2 FT) and grabbed three boards.
• Junior Matilde Baron (Vicenza, Italy) registered four points (2-5 FG) and four rebounds.
• Graduate student Stephanie Davis (Windham, N.H.) tallied two points (1-8 FG), four rebounds and a pair of assists.
• Saint Michael's narrowly outshot Southern New Hampshire, 30.9 percent (21-68) to 30.2 percent (16-53), including 27.6 percent (8-29) to 10.5 percent (2-19) from beyond the arc. Neither team shot it particularly well at the line, but the Penmen were better, 57.1 percent (8-14) to 44.4 percent (4-9).
• The Penmen won the paint (24-22) and scored more points off turnovers (10-9), while the Purple Knights dominated the glass (54-32), scored more second chance points (16-8), received more scoring from their bench (15-14) and submitted a better assist-to-turnover ratio (15/14-6/11).

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire has lost four straight.
• Saint Michael's leads the all-time series with Southern New Hampshire, 32-27, but snaps a nine-game losing streak against SNHU, which had won 12 of the previous 13 meetings. This was the first win in the series for the Purple Knights since a 76-68 home win Feb. 6, 2019. SMC had also lost four straight on its home floor against the Penmen.
• SNHU falls to 68-35 (.660) since the 2021-22 season started.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen return to action Tuesday, Jan 28 (5:30 p.m.) when they play host to the University of New Haven at the Stan Spirou Field House.