GORHAM, Maine – The 1987-1988 University of Southern Maine Women's Basketball Team has been announced as a selection to the 2023 Little East Conference Hall of Fame. The LEC's Class of 2023 is the conference's ninth Hall of Fame Class, and the Huskies' 1987-88 women's basketball team has the distinction of being the first women's team inducted into the Hall of Fame and fourth overall. The 87-88 Huskies are the second University of Southern Maine team to be honored by the LEC Hall of Fame, joining the 1997 National Champion USM Baseball team which was inducted in 2020.
Under then first-year head coach Gary Fifield, a current member of the LEC Hall of Fame, the 1987-1988 University of Southern Maine women's basketball team was the first-ever Little East Conference team to advance to a Final Four of an NCAA Division III Championship. The Huskies' success helped put the LEC on the map as one of the most competitive Division III conferences in the country as the Little East was in just its second year of existence.
The Huskies posted an overall record of 27-3 during the 1987-88 season, repeating as LEC regular season champion with a perfect 10-0 record in conference play before defeating Rhode Island College (69-62) and Eastern Connecticut State University (56-54) to repeat as LEC tournament champion. Diana Duff was voted the LEC Player of the Year, and was joined on the All-LEC team by Mary Harrigan and Lynn Littlefield.
With the NCAA berth in hand, the Huskies' continued to win. Southern Maine won its opening round matchup of the NCAA tournament with a 68-61 decision over Emmanuel (Mass.) College before downing Salem State College 60-56 to claim the regional championship, and then cruised to a 73-52 triumph over Franklin & Marshall College in the Elite Eight.
USM would face St. John Fisher College in the national semifinals, falling to the Cardinals, 70-53. The Huskies were then edged by North Carolina-Greensboro in the third-place game, 68-66. At the time, the fourth-place finish at the DIII National Championship was the best in program history.
Duff, one of the Huskies' five Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) All-Americans and a 2018 individual inductee into the Little East Conference Hall of Fame, was named the 1988 NCAA Division III National Championship All-Tournament Team, and picked up the first of her two All-American citations.
Since the Huskies' first final four berth, the program has gone on to feature in the NCAA Championship tournament 25 times, including five appearances in the Final Four.
University of Southern Maine
Little East Conference Hall of Fame Inductees |
| Class of 2012 |
| Ashley Marble |
Women's Basketball |
| Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello |
Director of Athletics/LEC Commissioner |
| Gary Fifield |
Women's Basketball Coach |
| Al Bean |
Director of Athletics |
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| Class of 2013 |
| Joanna Brown |
Women's Basketball |
| Ed Flaherty |
Baseball Coach |
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| Class of 2014 |
| Jeff Bowers |
Men's Basketball |
| Julie Plant |
Women's Basketball, Softball |
| |
| Class of 2016 |
| Tim Bonsant |
Men's Basketball |
| Renee (Heath) Towne |
Field Hockey & Softball |
| |
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| Class of 2018 |
| Kim Brewer-Griger |
Women's Track & Field |
| Diana Duff |
Women's Basketball, Softball |
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| Class of 2019 |
| Sinisa Bajic |
Men's Soccer |
| Jessie Superchi Gaudioso |
Field Hockey, Women's Lacrosse |
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| Class of 2020 |
| Allison Gagnon Gray |
Women's Basketball |
| Mike McCullum |
Baseball |
| 1997 Southern Maine Baseball Team |
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| Class of 2021 |
| Katariina Pulkkinen-Hoaas |
Women's Basketball |
| |
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| Class of 2022 |
| Jessica Knight Tremblay |
Women's Lacrosse |
| Tyler Delorme |
Baseball |
| |
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| Class of 2023 |
| Emily Artesani Walton |
Women's Track & Field |
| Tucker White |
Baseball |
| 1987-1988 Southern Maine Women's Basketball |
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