The win improves the Huskies' Little East Conference record to 5-3. USM is 9-9 overall.  UMass Boston falls to 11-7 overall and 4-4 in the conference.

            The Huskies trailed 37-21 with 14:01 remaining after UMB freshman Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass./Quincy) drained her fourth three-pointer of the game. Facing its largest deficit of the game, Southern Maine cobbled together a 24-7 run over the next 11 minutes to grab its first lead since of the game, 45-44, with 3:31 to play.

            After Geary's three, Pelletier scored four straight points to key the Huskies.  A jumper from Geary stymied the Huskies' run momentarily, before USM rattled off nine straight points to trail 39-34 with 8:22 to go.  Four different players scored for the Huskies in their 9-0 spurt, highlighted by a three from junior Jill Madden (North Andover, Mass.) off of a feed from senior Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine/McAuley).

             Following junior Ella Ramonas' (Portland, Maine/Deering) layup to cut the USM deficit to 39-22, both teams settled into a back-and-forth battled and the Beacons led 44-38 with 5:42 to play after a pair of free throws from Geary. The Huskies then scored seven straight points for its first lead.  Junior Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Acquinas) started the run with a layup before Knight grabbed a defensive board and found senior Stephanie Gallagher (York, Maine) for a three.  Knight then passed off her fifth assist of the game finding Pelletier in the paint for a 45-44 USM lead with 3:21 on the clock.

            Over the next 90 seconds both teams traded missed possessions and the Beacons knotted the game up making one of two free throws for a 45-45 score with 1:58 remaining.  Knight returned the lead to the Huskies on their next possession with a strong move in the paint, but the Beacons' junior Olivia Murphy (North Reading, Mass.) sank to free throws to again tie the game at 47.

            In the final minute, UMB missed on its ensuing possession and Anderson grabbed a key defensive board and was fouled.  Sent to the line, Anderson calmly sank both ends of a one-and-one to put her team ahead 49-47 with 36 seconds to play.  Freshman guard Kayla Stacy (Auburn, N.H./Pinkteron Academy) came up big defensively for the Huskies making a steal and converting one of two free throws for a 50-47 lead.  UMB cut into the USM lead with one free throw with 15 seconds to play, but USM closed out the game when Knight fed Pelletier for the final basket of the game for a 52-48 win. 

            Pelletier finished the game 7-for-12 from the field, adding five rebounds, four steals and three assists.  Knight added eight points, five rebounds and a game-high six assists, while Anderson had eight points.  Stacy had a career-best seven rebounds off of the bench for the Huskies, adding three steals.

            Geary finished with a game-high 18 points for the Beacons on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point territory, adding four assists. Murphy added a double-double 14 points and 16 rebounds.  

            Southern Maine hosts Keene State College on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) in a Little East Conference match up. Southern Maine will be hosting its annual "Think Pink" Day and will be selling "Think Pink" t-shirts and will have raffles and prizes in an effort to raise funds for cancer research. 

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