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            GORHAM, Maine -- Junior guard Renee Nicholas (Sebago, Maine/Lake Region) scored a career-high 26 points as the University of Southern Maine Huskies erased a 17-point halftime deficit to earn a 73-66 win over the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at the Warren Hill Gymnasium.

            The win was the fourth straight for the Huskies who improved to 9-6 overall and 4-1 in the Little East Conference.  The loss stopped a two-game winning streak for the Warriors who fell to 10-4 overall and 4-1 in the conference.

            Nicholas was an outstanding 10-for-16 from the field en route to her career-high total, and added five rebounds, three steals and two assists.  Junior forward Courtney Cochran (Waite, Maine/Woodland) added 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists, while freshman guard Erin McNamara (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) scored 13 points.

            Junior forward Piper Chapman (Portsmouth, R.I./The Prout School) led three Warriors in double figures with 19 points and seven rebounds on a 7-for-15 mark from the field.  Senior guard Brittany Whiteley (Windsor Locks, Conn.) added 14 points and sophomore forward Tanisha Carter (East Hartford, Conn./East Catholic) added 12 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

            Down by as many as 19 points in the first half, and 17 points at the half (45-28), Southern Maine responded in the second stanza by shooting a blistering 65.2 percent (15-for-23) from the field.  Cochran (12), McNamara (13) and Nicholas (11) combined to score 36 of the Huskies' 45 second-half points.

            Trailing the entire game, Southern Maine took its first lead, 58-57, with 7:25 to play after Nicholas converted one of two free throws capping a 30-12 scoring surge by the Huskies over a 12-minute span.

            After the Nicholas free throw, the teams traded points before sophomore center Lauren Kelleher (Dartmouth, Mass.) gave the Warriors a 62-59 lead with 4:10 remaining.  Kelleher's free throw would be the last Warrior point until the final second of the game as the Huskies scored the next 10 points straight to pull out the victory  Nicholas scored the first four points of the run on a tough jumper in the paint and two free throws, before McNamara followed with the final six on a three-pointer off a kick-out from Cochran, a layup and one of two free throws for a 69-62 USM lead with 44 seconds to play.

            Chapman halted the Huskies' run with a layup to pull the Warriors to within five (69-64) with 33 second to play, but McNamara was 4-for-4 from the line down the stretch as the Huskies held for the win.

            Southern Maine travels to Plymouth State University on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.).  Eastern Connecticut travels to Keene State College on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.).