LEWISTON, Maine  – Senior guard Nicole Garland (Portland, Maine/Deering) scored a team-high 16 points to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 68-54 win over the Bates College Bobcats in a non-conference women's basketball game Tuesday night at Alumni Gymnasium in Lewiston, Maine.

         The win is the third straight for the Huskies, who improve to 3-0. The loss is the third in as many games for Bates dropping its record to 0-3.

         Garland was 4-for-6 from three points range and added five rebounds, two steals and an assist to lead three players in double figures for the Huskies.  Senior forward Jordan Grant (Concord, N.H.) recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.  Grant also had four assists, four steals and a blocked shot.  Junior forward Nash Biliew (Portland, Maine) chipped in with 10 points off of the bench.  Sophomore forward Rebecca Night (Alfred, Maine/McAuley) had six points, nine rebounds, three assists, four blocked shots and two steals. 

         Sophomore guard Molly Brown (South Dartmouth, Mass./Dartmouth) led all scorers with 18 points and nine rebounds.  Senior Allie Beaulieu (Swampscott, Mass.) chipped in with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting including a trio of three pointers.  Senior Taryn O'Connell (Georgetown, Mass.) had a team-high 11 rebounds.

         After racing out to a 7-0 lead in the opening three minutes of the game, Southern Maine found itself trailing the Bobcats 15-13 with 11:27 to play following a pair of Brown free throws.  Both teams battled back and forth over the next five minutes with USM grabbing the lead for good at 24-21 on a three-pointer from Garland with 6:10 to play.  

         Bates kept pace with the Huskies and trailed 32-30 at the 3:27 mark after a three-pointer from Beaulieu before Southern Maine closed out the half with five unanswered points for a 37-30 lead at the break.

         In the second half, Bates stayed within striking distance of Southern Maine and trailed by six (42-36) on a Brown layup with 13:56 to play before the Huskies used a 17-3 run to take control of the game.  Grant finished a layup on an Biliew assist and Garland stuck a three for a quick five-point swing, before Bates scored its only three points of the next seven minutes on a three-point play from O'Connell. 

         Following O'Connell's points, Garland and Biliew combined to score 10 of the Huskies next 12 points to stake their team a 59-39 lead with 7:12 to play.  Brown halted the Bobcats' drought at the 6:58 mark with a layup, but her team wouldn't get any closer than the final score of 68-54 as the Huskies' led by as many as 20 points with three and a half minutes in regulation.  

         Southern Maine hosts St. Joseph's College (Maine) on Sunday (2:00 p.m.).  Bates travels to Husson on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.).

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