The win is the third straight for the Huskies who improve to 12-11 overall and 8-4 in the Little East.  The Huskies are now tied for second place in the Little East. Rhode Island College falls to 6-17 with the loss and 4-8 in the conference.

Held to just six points in the first 13 minutes of the game after shooting just 3-for-10 from the field and 0-for-4 from the free throw line while committing six turnovers, Southern Maine trailed RIC 11-6 with 7:21 to play in the half. After an RIC timeout, Knight came up with a steal and junior forward Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine/Deering) finished an assist from Gallagher to ignite a 14-5 run for the Huskies that was capped by a three-pointer from junior Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas).  Ramonas scored seven points in USM's half-closing run to put her team ahead 20-16 at the break.

RIC scored the first four points of the second half on layups from sophomore Jessica Patalano (Exeter, R.I./Exeter-West Greenwich) and freshman Jess Korzec (West Brookfield, Mass./Quaboag Regional) to quickly knot the score up at 20-20.  Anderson and RIC junior Devin Hill (Danielson, Conn./Killingly) traded three-pointers of the next two possessions and the game remained tied at 23 with 16:58 to play, before the Huskies strung together a game-changing 12-0 run to assume control.

Knight was instrumental in the Huskies' run, scoring the first six points and eight of her team's 12, while Ramonas added four.  The Huskies' led 35-23 following Knight's jumper at the 11:37 mark, before Hill connected on a jumper to trim the RIC deficit to 35-25 with 10:28 on the cloc  to halt a nearly six-minute scoreless span.

USM answered Hill's jumper with a 5-2 spurt and led by 12, 40-28, after a pair of free throws from Gallagher at the 8:06 mark before RIC made a push for a rally.  Following Gallagher's free throws, RIC scored 10 unanswered points to pull to within a basket of USM.  Hill scored the first four of RIC's points, while sophomore Alex Moore (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) notched the final four to trail the Huskies 40-38 with 5:34 to play.

With the game in flux, Gallagher hit a clutch three in the Huskies' next possession and then sank a pair of free throws to make it a 45-38 game in favor of USM with 4:44 to play. The Huskies' kept it a two-possession game over the next several minutes and led 51-44 with 55 seconds to play on a pair of Ramonas free throws, before RIC again made a push. Korzec answered Ramonas' free throws and RIC forced to USM turnovers and then hit two free throws of its own to trail by three with 24 second to play.  Forced to foul, RIC put Knight on the line with the Huskies clinging to a 51-48 lead.  Knight knocked down both free throws, which proved to be pivotal, as Moore drained a three on RIC's next possession for a 53-51 USM lead with 13 seconds to play.  Trying to force overtime, RIC then put Gallagher on the line and she hit two of two for the 55-51 final.

Knight was 5-for-11 from the field and 6-for-8 from the free throw line to lead USM, adding seven rebounds and two steals.  Ramonas was 4-for-9 and 6-for-10 from the charity stripe with a team-high nine rebounds, adding two assists and four steals.  Gallagher added five assists and four rebounds to compliment her 11 points.  Anderson finished with eight points off of the bench, chipping in with three rebounds and two steals.

Southern Maine returns to Hill Gymnasium on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) for its final regular season home game against Little East Conference foe UMass Boston.  As part of the game, the Huskies will recognize its three seniors: Rebecca Knight, Stephanie Gallagher and Taylor Flood (Sanford, Maine). Rhode Island College hosts UMass Dartmouth on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.).

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