KEENE, N.H.  –  With five seconds remaining in regulation and the score tied 41-41, senior Katie Howe (New Boston, N.H./Goffstown) took a feed from classmate Jackie Luckhardt (Londonderry, N.H.) and drained a long two-pointer to lift the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 43-41 win over the Keene State College Owls in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gym.

         The win is the second straight for the Huskies who start the 2020 portion of their schedule at 2-0, and improve to 7-6 overall and 2-2 in the Little East.  Keene State falls to 2-10 overall and 1-2 in the LEC.

         But teams struggled with their shooting accuracy from the field and the free throw line in a low-scoring affair.  Junior Abi Ramirez (Portland, Maine) led the Huskies with 10 points and was the only USM player in double-figures. Luckhardt had nine points, five rebounds, and two assists. Sophomore Michelle Rowe (Gorham, Maine) had six points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists while sophomore Victoria Harris (Altus, Okla./Lewiston) and Howe each finished with five points.  Harris tied for game-high rebounding honors with eight, including five offensive boards as USM led the rebounding stat 42-38 and 17-10 on the offensive glass.

         Hailey Derosia led all scorers with 12 points, eight rebounds, four steals and two blocked shots for Keene State.  Katie Martineau added nine points, while Jordyn Burke added eight points and eight rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• . Down 20-19 to start the second half, USM outscored the Owls 10-5 in the third quarter.  Playing strong defensively, the Huskies held Keene State to just one field goal (1-for-13) and a pair of free throws in the third.  Sitting for most of the first half due to foul trouble, Harris led USM in the third with four of her five points and five of her eight rebounds.
• Starting the fourth with a 29-25 lead over the Owls, USM found itself tieed with KSC 31-31 with just 1:15 gone in the quarter.  Howe quickly returned the Husky advantage sinking a three on USM's next possession off of an assist from sophomore Audrey Pohl. Luckhardt followed with a jumper and USM led 36-31 with 7:40 to play. 
• Derosia and USM freshman Brittany Desjardin traded baskets before KSC's Martineau canned a three to make it a 38-36 game in favor of the Huskies.  with 4:50 to play.
• Neither team scored on its next possessins before Burke completed an assist from Martineau with 3:30 to go for a 38-38 game. USM responded again, however, this time with a Ramirez layup for a 40-38 lead before Harris hit one of two free throws for a 41-38 advantage with 2:00 on the clock. 
• KSC was not finished however as Burke hit a layup with 1:13 to play and one of two free throws from Tamra Gonyea made it 41-41 with 33 seconds left.  After a time out, USM's Luckhardt inbounded the ball and then ran time off of the clock to set up the final play of the game and Howe's game winner. 

INSIDE THE STATISTICS:

•  USM scored 12 of its 43 points on second-chance buckets, snagging 17 offensive rebounds during the game.
• The Huskies left 10 points on the floor shooting just 5-of-15 from the free throw line (33.3 percent).

UP NEXT:

         Southern Maine hosts Rhode Island College on Tuesday (5:30 pm) in Little East Conference action.   

–cac–