STANDISH, Maine – Freshman guard Kelsi McNamara (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) scored a game-high 35 points to lead the St. Joseph's College (Maine) Monks to a 74-67 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies' Sunday night.

With the win, St. Joseph's improves to 5-1 on the season and earns possession of the Costello Cup for the first time in four seasons.  Southern Maine, which falls to 2-3 with the loss, leads the Costello Cup series with St. Joseph's College 21-5 and the overall series between the two schools at 41-7.  Contested over the last 27 seasons, the Costello Cup honors the late Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach.

McNamara was outstanding for the Monks making 9-of-18 from the field, including 6-of-8 from three, and 11-for-12 from the free throw line, accounting for nearly half of the SJC offense.  Sophomore Emily Quirion (Augusta, Maine/Cony) added 15 points as the only other Monk in double figures. 

Senior Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine/Messalonskee) led three Huskies in double figures with 18 points and a game-high nine rebounds.  Classmate Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine/Deering) added 13 points and seven rebounds, while senior Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas) tossed in 11 points.  Sophomore Kristie McNall (Wakefield, Mass.) added nine points off of the bench, and freshman Alexa Srolovitz (Montreal, QC/New Hampton) chipped in with six points and tied for game-high honors with six assists.

Both teams had big quarters in the opening half.  USM led 20-9 after the first quarter had played paced by seven points from Ramonas and six from Pelletier.  The Monks countered, however, with a 26-9 second quarter to take a 35-29 lead at the break.  McNamara had 15 of her 35 points in the second quarter. 

            USM closed the gap in the third quarter to trail by three, 52-49, outscoring the Monks 20-17, setting the stage for an exciting fourth quarter.  Trailing by eight, 63-55, with 5:18 to play after a SJC layup, the Huskies rallied to within a basket of the Monks with 1:37 in regulation with a 9-3 run.  A pair of Anderson free throws and a layup from Pelletier made it 63-59, before McNamara sank one of her six threes in the game to make it 66-59 on the Monks' next possession with 3:30 on the clock.  After a set of missed possessions on either side of the ball, Srolovitz canned a three at the 2:43 mark, making it 66-62 before Pelletier grabbed a defensive rebound and converted a feed from Anderson for a 66-64 game with just over 90 seconds to play. 

The Monks were able to answer on their next possession, however, as sophomore Brianne Maloney (South Portland, Maine) converted a layup and SJC closed it out on the free throw line making 6-of-6 down the stretch for the win.

Southern Maine held a slight edge in shooting, making 39.7 percent (23-for-58) from the field and 9-for-25 from the three.  SJC shot 37.7 percent (20-for-53) and 8-for-14 from three.  However, the Monks held a distinct advantage in free throw attempts making 26-of-32 (81.3 percent), while USM made 12-of-16 (75.0 percent). 

Southern Maine will host non-conference opponent nationally-ranked Bowdoin College on Tuesday (7:30 p.m.).  Prior to the game, Southern Maine will dedicate the court at Hill Gym, Fifield Court, in honor of retired USM women's basketball coach Gary Fifield (7:00 p.m.).  St. Joseph's will participate in the Colby Classic on Saturday (6:30 p.m.) and will face University of Maine Fort Kent. 

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