MANCHESTER, N.H. - Felician women's basketball returned to action after the holiday break to close out their non-conference schedule Saturday afternoon at Saint Anselms College in New Hampshire. 

The Golden Falcons featured an overtime thriller for their final contest before the new year as the Hawks outscored the green-and-gold 4-8 in extra minutes and Felician dropped to 2-9 overall. 

Here's What Happened:

• Saint Anselm were on the board first for a 6-0 run as regulation was underway. Mar Vidal (Tona, Spain) bucketed her first three of the afternoon to halt the Hawks offensive run and the Golden Falcons were able to flip the score 9-8 on more points from Katie Ritchie (Mentone, Victoria, Australia), Adriana Perez (Galapagar, Madrid, Spain), and Aisha Traore (Bronx, N.Y.).
• Back-to-back points by Ane Valle (Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain) allowed the squad to hold the 14-8 advantage over the hosts and capped off the first 10-minutes of play with the 17-14 lead. The Hawks robbed the advantage from the Golden Falcons grasp to ignite the second quarter, 17-22, but Vidal recorded a trey to trail by 2 and ultimately outscore their opponents 16-11 for the 33-25 lead at the half. 
• In the second half, both teams would remain scoreless for about 2 minutes until the Hawks watered the drought from the charity stripe to cut the Felician lead to 6. Despite the Hawk having the upper hand outscoring the Golden Falcons 13-15, the green-and-gold went into the final stanza in front, 46-40.
• The battle of the contest occurred in the fourth quarter. The Hawks equalized the score at 51 and in the next three possessions there were three lead changes; on the third change the Golden Falcons were on top 55-54 after an Valle layup. 
• After Felician turnovers, the hosts were able to secure the five point run for the lead 55-60, leaving the Golden Falcons to play catch-up the remainder of the contest. And they most certainly caught up... with a minute remaining in the game, Perez netted a three cutting the deficit to two, 60-62. Uzor Uchidiuno's (Toronto, Canada) pressure in the post forced a host turnover and put the ball in the hands of Felician in the final seconds of the contest. Vidal found herself at the line with 26 seconds left and captured both to tie at 62 for the force into extra minutes. 
• With overtime underway, the Hawks would score first and held the lead throughout the quarter. The Golden Falcons dropped 66-70 as the final buzzer sounded to close out the 2023 year. 

Box Score Insights: 

• Freshmen duo of Valle and Ritchie paved the way for the Golden Falcons. Valle led all scorers with 16-points and six rebounds while snagging three steals and Ritchie had 13 points and four rebounds. 
• Perez , Vidal and Deviney Jackson (Long Island City, N.Y.) had nine points apiece with Vidal leading the team with five assists and four steals. Uchidiuno posted two blocks and and four rebounds.
• The Golden Falcons shot 35% from the field and behind the arc throughout the Saturday contest. They shot 79% (15-19) from the line. 

The Golden Falcons will return to JJJ Gymnasium after the new year on Jan. 3 as they host the University of Bridgeport to defend their 2-0 record and first place standing in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference North Division at 5:30pm.