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            PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Juniors Stephanie Coro (North Providence, R.I.) and Rachel Riley (Coventry, R.I.) combined to score 42 points as the Rhode Island College Anchorwomen defeated the visiting University of Southern Maine Huskies 69-57 in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at The Murray Center.

            With the win, Rhode Island College improved to 16-6 and 7-5 in the Little East.  The loss drops Southern Maine to 15-8 overall and 10-2 in the Little East.  Southern Maine is now tied for second place in the Little East with Eastern Connecticut State University.  Western Connecticut is in sole possession of first place in the conference with an 11-1 record.  Western's only conference loss came against the Huskies.

            Riley notched her 13th double-double of the season with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Coro was 8-for-17 from the field en route to 21 points.  Sophomore guard Ashley O'Dell (Lincoln, R.I.) added 12 points, four rebounds and three assists, while senior guard Lauren Harrington (Exeter, R.I./Exeter-West Greenwich) had 10 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

            USM junior forward Courtney Cochran (Waite, Maine/Woodland) posted game-high totals of 22 points and 16 rebounds to grab her 13th double-double of the season.  Cochran was 8-for-13 from the field.  Junior guard Renee Nicholas (Sebago, Maine/Lake Region) was the only other USM player in double figures with 11 points.

            The Anchorwomen took a 34-22 lead at the half led by 13 points from Riley and nine from Coro.  The Huskies did little to help their own cause shooting an ice-cold 32.0 percent (8-for-25) from the field, while turning the ball over 12 times.  Cochran paced Southern Maine in the first half with nine points and eight rebounds.

            In the second half, the Huskies trailed the Anchorwomen by as many as 17 points, but rallied to pull within three possession of RIC.  After chipping their deficit to 13 points, the Huskies scored six straight points on layups from Nicholas, Cochran and junior guard Kim Rivet (Bridgton, Maine/Lake Region) to trail 62-55 with 2:46 to play.  However, RIC answered the USM rally with a layup from O'Dell and sealed the game at the free throw line making 5-of-6 down the stretch.

            Southern Maine hosts the University of Massachusetts Boston on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) in its final regular season home game of the season.  The Anchorwomen host the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (5:30 p.m.) on Tuesday.

-cac-