Manchester, N.H. (January 14) -- After rallying from 14 points down to cut the lead to three with 2:35 left, No. 20 Assumption fell to Saint Anselm by a 52-45 final on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference play at Stoutenburgh Gym.  The Hounds are ranked No. 20 in the latest USA Today/ESPN Division II National Top 25 Poll and have been ranked in all five regular-season polls this season.

Neither team got off to a quick start as the Hounds built an early 7-4 lead following a three-pointer from junior Katy Howard (Medway, Mass./Medway). The Hawks answered with a 5-0 run to seize the lead and led by as many as nine in the half at 24-15 with 1:43 remaining in the half. Assumption closed on a quick 4-0 run though as Gabrielle Gibson (Amityville, N.Y./Copiague) hit a baseline jumper and Jamie Insel (Clinton, N.J./Voorhees) scored on a putback at the buzzer to send the game into the half with Saint Anselm up 24-19. In the half, senior All-American candidate Kelly Meredith (Franklin, Mass./Franklin) became the sixth player in Assumption history to reach the 1,400-point plateau as she ended the half with five points.

Howard cut the lead down to one off the inbounds play to open the second half as she hit a three from the far corner to cut the lead to 24-22. A 10-2 run over the next 7:44 though pushed the lead up to 10 at 34-24, forcing an Assumption timeout with 12:05 left. After the Hounds cut the lead down to 37-29 with five quick points from Gibson midway thru the second half, the Hawks answered with an 8-2 run behind a pair of threes from Kierra Moore to extend the advantage to 45-31 with 6:13 left.

Assumption embarked on an 11-0 run over the next 3:38, capped by three-pointers from Gibson and Howard, to get the Hounds back to within three at 45-42. That was as close as the visitors would get though as Saint Anselm came away with the seven-point victory.

Gibson led the Hounds with 13 points, along with 11 from Howard. For Saint Anselm, Meg Morrissey posted 12 points, along with 11 from Tori Lehr.

With the loss, Assumption falls to 11-4 overall and 8-3 in Northeast-10 play, while Saint Anselm improves to 10-7 overall and 4-7 in the league.

Assumption is back in action on Tuesday, January 17th as the Hounds travel to Franklin Pierce for a 5:30 p.m. game in Rindge, N.H.