COLCHESTER, Vt. -- Senior guard Naj White led Post University Women's Basketball with 18 points on 7-of-17 shooting with a 4-for-10 day from three-point range, but a 32.9% shooting game for the Eagles coupled with 23 free throws for Southern New Hampshire University would be the undoing for Post in their season opener as they fell to the Penmen at the Saint Michael's Tip-off, 70-58, on Friday night in Colchester, Vermont. 

THE BASICS

Post University 58, Southern New Hampshire University 70

Post University (0-1)
 
Southern New Hampshire University (1-0)

HOW IT HAPPENED 
Sophomore forward Alyssa Rossignol scored her first points as an Eagle right off the bat to get Post ahead by two as part of a 7-1 start to the game with baskets from White and graduate guard Erin Harris over the first two minutes of the game. That six-point lead would be the largest the Eagles would have all game long as a 5-0 run by graduate guard Stephanie Davis cut the lead to one, 9-8, before White's three made it a five-point game once more as Post carried a 14-10 lead into the second.

Leading by six following a White basket with 7:20 remaining in the half, the Penmen went on an 11-0 run led by five points from sophomore forward Madison Hughes to take a five-point lead of their own, 23-18, marking the first time Southern New Hampshire took the lead in the game. By the time the half rolled around, the two sides would see themselves tied at 27 all after a 9-0 run by Post ending in another three by White had the Eagles back ahead by four before the Penmen ended the half with a 4-0 run to pull even.

But Post would never regain the lead in the affair, pulling even at 31 on a Rossignol jumper at the nine-minute mark of the third. Although they would remain close and tie it twice more at 42 with 2:14 left in the third on another Rossignol shot and again in the fourth with 8:10 remaining in regulation at 48, they would never be able to get the go-ahead bucket. In the second half as a whole, the Eagles shot 1-of-11 from three and 14-of-35 from the floor while taking only five free throws which all came in the third.

As for the Penmen, they went 11-for-26 overall from the floor and 4-for-11 from three, but had 27 free throw attempts in which they knocked down 17, including a 12-for-19 fourth quarter from the stripe. Despite sophomore guard Abby Wager leading Southern New Hampshire with 14 points along with Hughes, the duo went 3-for-14 and 5-for-12 respectively from the floor with Wager getting eight of her points from the free throw line. 

Down the stretch of the game, Post would get back within two, 56-54, with 3:28 left after a layup from junior forward Nicole Parks before the Eagles would go cold shooting to the tune of just two made field goals while the Penmen hit 10 free throws and two shots from the floor to pull away for the 70-58 win. 

BY THE NUMBERS   

• In her first game with Post University, Alyssa Rossignol had 17 points on 8-for-24 shooting overall while going 0-for-6 from three-point range and making 1-of-2 free throws -- Rossignol led the team with seven rebounds 
• Post University shot 4-for-28 (14.3%) as a team from three-point range which was their worst shooting percentage relative to the number of shots taken from long range since they went 2-for-27 (7.4%) against Holy Family University on January 14th, 2023 
• Southern New Hampshire took 37 free throws in the game, making 23 of them -- The 23 made free throws was their most for a single game since February 14th, 2024 against AIC and the 37 free throw tries was the most for the Penmen since November 26th, 2017 against Felician 
• Post University is now 1-10 all-time against Southern New Hampshire after earning their first win in program history against the Penmen last season at home, 57-51

WHO'S NEXT 
Post University closes out the Saint Michael's Tip-Off Tournament tomorrow evening against Saint Michael's College at 7:00 PM in Colchester, Vermont. Winning 73-61 against the Purple Knights on the road last season, it marked the first time in program history in which the Eagles had beaten Saint Michael's having lost the previous three matchups between the two squads.