LEWISTON, Maine  –  Brianna Gadaleta scored 11 of her 17 points in the fourth quarter, shooting 5-of-6 from the field to lead the Bates College Bobcats past the University of Southern Maine Huskies 72-62 in a non-conference women's basketball game Tuesday night at Alumni Gymnasium.
 
With the score tied at 49-49 heading into the fourth, Bates outscored USM 23-13 in the final frame led by Gadaleta.  Bates shot 58.8 percent (10-for-17) in the fourth; conversely, Southern Maine was just 4-for-19). 
 
The Records: 
Southern Maine (1-4)
Bates (3-1)
 
Series History: Facing each other for the 56^th time, Bates earns its 15^th win in series history. USM, which defeated Bates 62-49 in 2019, leads the series 41-15.
 
Standout Huskies:  Sophomore Amy Fleming (Berwick, Maine/Noble) 15 points (7-for-16 FG), 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 assist; Senior Victoria Harris (Altus, Okla./Lewiston) 11 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot; sophomore Franny Ramsdell (Wells, Maine) 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 blocked shot.
 
Standout Bobcats: Meghan Graff 18 points, 4 assists; Brianna Gadaleta 17 point, 8 rebounds, Mia Roy 13 points, 5 assists; Ariana Dalia 8 points, 9 rebounds.
 
How It Happened: 

• Trailing the Bobcats by as many as 10 points, 17-10, at the 5:06 mark, the Huskies rallied back to within a basket closing the first quarter on an 8-3 run.  Sophomore Ashlee Aceto (South Portland, Maine) drained a three to start the rally, while Ramsdell scored four of her 10 points.
• The Huskies tied the game up at 20 scoring the first basket of the second quarter and the game settled into a back-and-forth affair.  Freshman Elizabeth Gonyea (Rindge, N.H./Conant) gave the Huskies a 28-26 lead with a bucket in the paint before Bates' Gadaleta knotted it up at 28, and a jumper from Graff made it 30-28 in favor of the Bobcats.  Gonyea scored her sixth points of the quarter and the final points for either team as the game went into half at 30-30.
• Both teams matched each other point-for-point in the third. Fleming led the way for USM scoring 11 of her team-high 15 in the third on 5-of-8 shooting, while Bates' Morgan Kennedy scored nine. Fleming and Kennedy traded baskets late in the third and Fleming had the Huskies' up 49-47 before Kennedy connected in the paint sending the game into the fourth at 49-49.
• Gadaleta made the first two baskets of the fourth to give Bates the lead for good.  USM trailed Bates 59-55 following a pair of free throws from Ramsdell with 5:45 remaining, but the Bobcats scored six unanswered points to lead 65-55 with 3:55 to play.  Fleming made it a two-possession game with a layup at 1:04 on the clock, 68-62, but Bates scored the final four points of the game, and USM misfired on its final four shots for the 72-62 final.

 
Inside the Stats: 

•  Freshman Maria Degifico (South Portland, Maine) had a game and career-high five assists in 19 minutes off of the bench for USM.
• Freshman Elizabeth Gonyea was 2-for-3 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line to score the first points of her intercollegiate career.
• Both teams combined to score 94 points in the paint.  Southern Maine scored 42 of its 62 in the paint, while Bates scored 52 of its 72 from close range.
• With two steals in tonight's game graduate student Jackie Luckhardt (Londonderry, N.H.) has 266 for her career, and is now sixth all time in USM records, surpassing recent Little East Conference Hall of Fame inductee Allison Gagnon (1990-1993) who had 265.  Luckhardt has 808 career points, 461 rebounds, 279 assists, and 266 steals in 91 career games.

 
Up Next: 
Southern Maine will have its first home game since November 9 after playing its last four games on the road and will host nearby St. Joseph's College (Maine) on Sunday, November 28 (5:30 pm). 
 
 Southern Maine Athletics has gone to fully digital game programs, please click this link to access the game programs to future Husky home events!