The win improves the Huskies record to 15-7 and 7-4 in the Little East Conference.  Plymouth State falls to 2-18 overall and 1-10 in the conference.

Pelletier was 10-for-18 from the field to lead all scorers.  Ten of Pelletier's 15 boards were on the offensive end of the glass helping the Huskies to a 39-30 edge on the glass. Senior guard Mariah Callender (Portland, Maine) added 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting, while sophomore Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Acquinas) added nine points off of the bench. 

Freshman DeAsia Lawrence (Middletown, Conn.) paced the Panthers with 12 points, knocking down 4-of-5 three pointers.  Sophomore Taylor Perry (Simsbury, Conn.) added 11 points off of the bench, while sophomore Bry Bennett (Lancaster, N.H./White Mountains Regional) was 5-for-9 from the field for 10 points.  Bennett added five rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

After shooting a poor 6-for-27 from the field with seven turnovers in the first 16 minutes of the first half, Southern Maine found itself trailing the Panther 20-12 with less than four minutes to go in the half. A three from Lawrence gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the half before USM rallied to trail PSU by a bucket with a 9-3 run over the final 3:58.

A layup from junior Abby Hasson (South Portland, Maine), a three from junior guard Stephanie Gallagher (York, Maine) and a layup from Pelletier made it 20-19 in favor of the Panthers, before Lawrence found her range from the three-point arc again to extend her teams lead with 23-19 with second remaining.  Pelletier responded for the Huskies finishing a feed from Anderson for the 23-21 score at the half.

The Panthers opened the second half with a surge scoring the first five points on a three from senior Krystin Corliss (Loudon, N.H./Merrimack Valley) and a layup from Bennett to grab a 28-21 lead in the opening minute.  Trailing the Panthers 32-27 following a layup from Bennett with 15:01 on the clock, the Huskies used a 10-0 run to take their first lead of since the 7:56 mark of the opening half. Pelletier scored on an offensive rebound and a put-back and Gallagher found a cutting Callender for a layup to bring USM to within one, 32-21, with 14:11 on the clock. Callender's second layup in a row gave the Huskies the lead for good 33-32 with 13:32 to play.  Pelletier converted an assist from junior forward Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine/McAuley) before Knight ended the run with a jumper for a 37-32 USM lead with 11:44 to play.

After a Panther timeout, Bennett stopped the drought for PSU and both teams exchanged baskets over the next few possessions.  Another three from Lawrence made it a two possession game for the Panthers who trailed 41-37 with 6:43 to play, but the Huskies responded with an 8-0 spurt to take control 49-37 with 4:38 on the clock. Pelletier scored four of the Huskies' eight points while Knight and Anderson each scored two.

Plymouth State made a push in the final moments and trailed by six, 51-45, after a three-point play from junior Tiffany Lewis (Hillsboro, N.H./Hillsboro-Deering), but USM closed out the game making 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final 40 seconds for the 54-48 final.

Southern Maine hosts Rhode Island College on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).  The Huskies will be playing in a "Think Pink" game to raise funds and awareness for Cancer Research. All funds raised will be donated to the American Cancer Society.  USM will host a 50/50 raffle and will be selling "Think Pink" t-shirts.  Plymouth State hosts UMass Boston on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).    

–cac–