GORHAM, Maine  –  Senior Victoria Harris (Altus, Okla./Lewiston, Maine) had game-high totals with 19 points and nine rebounds to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 63-57 win over the Keene State College Owls Saturday afternoon in a Little East Conference women's basketball game at Hill Gymnasium. 
 
The Records: 
Keene State (4-9, 1-5 Little East)
Southern Maine (4-8, 3-2 Little East)
 
Series History:  Facing each other for the 64^th time in series history, Southern Maine leads the overall series 45-19.  USM won the first meeting of the 2021-2022 season 59-43 at Keene State and has the 2021-2022 series sweep. 
 
Standout Huskies:  Victoria Harris  19 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot, 1 assist; Maria Degifico (South Portland, Maine) 7 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 assists, 1 blocked shot; Amy Fleming (Berwick, Maine/Noble) 9 points, 3 rebounds, two assists; Katie Bagley (Hancock, Maine/Ellsworth) 7 points, 5 rebounds.
 
Standout Owls: Brianna Metellus 12 points, 4-for-7 FG; Jenny Freedman 11 points, 4 assists, 3 assists, two steals; Elizabeth Gonyea 11 points.
 
How It Happened: 

• The Huskies scored on the first play of the game, a Degifico layup, and led 12-5 after the first five minutes of the first quarter.  Degifico scored seven of the Huskies opening 12 points, including a three off of a steal from Harris and a feed from Fleming to make it 12-5 with 4:52 to play.
• Starting the second quarter up, 16-10, USM saw its lead dwindle to 22-18 (3:10) after a jumper from KSC's Aryanna Murray. The Huskies responded however scoring the final six points of the game on layups from Fleming, junior Megan King and a jumper from Harris to lead 28-18 at the break.
• Harris and Fleming combined for USM's first six points of the second half, and the Huskies led 34-22 on a Harris bucket in the paint with 8:41 to go. However, KSC rallied to pull to within a point of the Huskies before the third quarter expired. The Owls outscored USM 21-12 in the third, including a 10-0 run following Harris' bucket at the 8:41 mark. KSC went 4-for-7 from three in the third, including two from Gonyea.
• KSC took its first lead of the game scoring the first points of the fourth quarter on a layup from Samantha Lee, but the Huskies answered right back with an 11-0 run to regain its lead and control of the game.  Sophomore Franny Ramsdell (Wells, Maine) started the run with a driving layup and was followed by a traditional three-point play from Harris. A jumper and two free throws from senior Michelle Rowe (Gorham, Maine) and another bucket in the paint from Harris completed the 11 points.
• Up 55-45 over the Owls with 4:02 to play, the Huskies saw KSC pull two within three points in the final 1:05.  After two free throws from Harris made it 55-45, KSC scored seven straight points, including a three from Metellus and four points from Freedman, to trail 55-52.
• After a squandered possessions from both teams, USM was able to close the game out from the line making 7-of-10 free throws down the stretch.

Inside the Stats: 

• Making the second start of her career, Degifico played a career-high 32 minutes and scored a career-high seven points on 3-for-5 shooting.
• Harris now has 763 points, 394 rebounds, 50 assists, 117 steals and 77 blocked shots in her 70-game career.
• Closing in on several milestones, graduate student Jackie Luckhardt (Londonderry, N.H.) 852 points, 484 rebounds, 299 assists, 279 steals and 28 blocked shots in 97 career games. 

Up Next: 
Southern Maine travels to Plymouth State on Monday (5:30 pm) for a Little East Conference game. The Huskies will host Castleton University on Saturday (1:00 pm) and Western Connecticut on Sunday (1:00 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!