GORHAM, Maine  –  Junior Abi Ramirez (Portland, Maine) scored a career-high 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting to lead three players in double figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies earned a 70-64 win over the Colby College Mules in a non-conference women's basketball game Thursday night at Hill Gymnasium. 

         Playing in its first game since December 10, Southern Maine earns the win and improves to .500 on the season at 6-6.  The Huskies are 4-2 at Hill Gymnasium this season.  Coming off of a win on Monday, Colby falls to 4-7 with the loss. 

         Ramirez led all scorers with her 17 points, adding two rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot while playing strong defensively.  Junior Kirsten Curley (Gorham, Maine) added 16 points, four steals, three rebounds and two assists on 6-for-13 shooting, while senior Jackie Luckhardt (Londonderry, N.H.) had 10 points, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals. Junior Morgan Eliasen (Lewiston, Maine) and sophomore Victoria Harris (Altus, Okla./Lewiston) each had nine points.  Eliasen had a pair of steals, while Harris added eight rebounds, four blocked shots and two steals. 

         Sophomore Keagan Dunbar (Middlebury, Vermont/Middlebury Union) led the Mules with 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals.  One of three players in double figures for Colby, Dunbar was 5-for-11 from the field.  Junior Alisha Aube (Westbrook, Maine/Thornton Academy) and freshman Brooke Guiffre (Wellesley, Mass.) each had 13 points.  Aube was 7-for-10 from the free throw line, while Guiffre was 6-for-7 from the field.  Senior Jane MacKerron (New York, N.Y./Trevor Day School) had a game-high nine rebounds for the Mules. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

• Down 10-9 after a jumper from Colby's Paige Russell, USM closed out the first quarter on a 10-2 run to lead 19-12 headed into the second.  Curley hit back-to-back threes and then sank a jumper to highlight the run, scoring eight of her 16 points in the first. 
• Three consecutive buckets in the paint from Luckhardt gave USM its largest lead of the game at 28-17 with 6:12 left in the second.  Colby trimmed its deficit to two possessions, 35-29, before the break closing out the quarter outscoring the Huskies 12-7. Grace Coutu and Guiffre had four points each for the Mules. 
• USM remained in front of Colby in the third and led 48-41 with 3:56 to play following a pair of free throws from Luckhardt.  However, the Mules roared back with a 10-2 run over the next three and a half minutes to grab its first lead of the game since 10-9 in the first quarter, 51-50 with 29 seconds on the clock after a jumper from Dunbar.  The Huskies quickly regained their lead however on their final possession when freshman Samantha Averill (Steep Falls, Maine/Bonny Eagle) collected an offensive rebound and coolly sank the put pack as the buzzer sounded for a 52-51 USM advantage headed into the fourth. 
• USM scored the first two field goals of the fourth on buckets from sophomore Audrey Pohl (Holland, Mich./West Ottawa) and Ramirez, and went on to own a 13-2 run in the opening six minutes of the quarter to snag a 65-54 lead with 4:02 top play. 
• Aube snapped the Huskies run with a step-back jumper and helped her team to a 7-0 run to rail 65-60 with 54 seconds to play, but Harris responded for USM with a layup and the Huskies got enough from the free throw line to claim the 70-64 win.  Harris also came up big defensively for USM down the stretch blocking back-to-back Colby shots in the final seconds of the game. 

INSIDE THE STATISTICS: 

• Both teams shot well from the free throw line. USM was 78.6 percent (11-for-14) from the line led by a 5-for-6 effort from Harris, while Colby shot 72.2 percent (13-for-18) led by Aube. 
• USM shot a season-best 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from three-point range.  Curley was 4-for-5 from three, while Ramirez, Eliasen and sophomore Michelle Rowe (Gorham, Maine) each hit one. Colby took 17 threes but make just three (17.6 percent).  
• Led by MacKerron's nine rebounds, Colby outrebounded USM 42-34.  USM scored 18 of its points off of 21 Colby turnovers. Colby had just one point off of USM's 14 turnovers. 

HUSKY NOTES: 

• Luckhardt surpassed the 200 assist mark and now has 206 assists in her career. The 5-5 guard has 634 points, 346 rebounds, 210 steals and 206 assists. 
• Curley's 16 points gives her 795 points for her career.  She has 245 rebounds, 84 assists, 111 steals and 59 blocked shots in her career. 

UP NEXT: 

         Southern Maine returns to action on Saturday (1:00 pm) at Little East Conference opponent Keene State College.  

–cac–