GORHAM, Maine   –  Freshman Dakota Shipley (Bath, Maine/Brunswick) scored a career-high 19 points and matched her career-high with nine rebounds to lead three players in double figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the UMass Boston Beacons 71-67 in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Hill Gymnasium's Fifield Court.
 
Shipley was 5-for-9 from the field, including 3-for-6 from three for her career-high total.  Shipley added nine rebounds (six offensive) and four assists in her third start of the season.  Graduate student Liz Cote (Conway, NH/Kennett) had 18 points, going 5-for-12 from three, and adding four rebounds and three assists, while freshman Lucy Wiles (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) added 16 points, a career-high seven assists and three steals. 
 
Hialeah Foster led the Beacons with 18 points off of the bench, shooting 6-for-9 from the field.  Sabanna Berrios added 16 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, while Tatiannah Fevry had 12 points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
 
The Records:
UMass Boston (4-9, 1-3 LEC)
Southern Maine (6-7, 2-2 LEC)
 
SERIES HISTORY: Today's game marked the 86^th meeting between the UMass Boston Beacons and the University of Southern Maine Huskies.  Southern Maine leads the overall series 75-11. Southern Maine swept the Beacons during the 2023-24 season winning 61-58 on the road and 58-54 at home.  The Huskies are 5-1 against UMB in their last six meetings.
 
How It Happened:

• After a slow start, the Huskies trailed the Beacons 8-3 at the 3:23 mark of the first quarter.  The Huskies opened the game 1-for-7 from the floor with six turnovers, finding its only points on a three from Cote at the 5:52.  The Beacons were 4-for-9 to start, but allowed the Huskies to hang around.
• Wiles hit a jumper a the 2:22 mark to make it an 8-5 came staring a 7-1 run to put the Huskies ahead 10-9 with 1:13 to play, but UMB scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 13-10 lead into the second. Berrios scored the final four points of the quarter for the Beacons.  
• The Huskies found their offense in the second quarter and outscored the Beacons 20-10 to take a 30-23 lead into the halftime break.  Southern Maine outscored UMB 12-2 in the first five minutes of the second quarter.  Wiles (4), Shipley (3), Cote (3) and senior Maddy York (2) each scored in the run to lead 22-15 with 2:01 to play.
• Berrios made it a two-possession game for the Beacons with a layup at the 4:12 mark for a 22-17 game, but the Huskies responded with a 6-0 mini-run led by five points from freshman Ali Portas (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) for their largest lead of the game, 28-17, with 2:22 to go. However, UMB stayed within striking distance closing the half on a 6-2 run for the 30-23 halftime score.
• Southern Maine remained comfortably in front for a majority of the third quarter, and retained its seven-point advantage, 45-38, with 3:11 left in the quarter on a three from Shipley.  But the Beacons Samora Merchant scored four of the Beacons final six points of the frame to make it a 48-44 game headed into the fourth.
• Jumpers from Foster and Lagor sandwiched around a three from Shipley had the Beacons with a possession of Southern Maine early in the fourth, 51-48, with 40 seconds off of the clock, but Wiles canned a three at the 8:20 mark and Shipley hit two at the free throw line to extend Southern Maine's lead to 55-48 to keep the Beacons at a distance.
• Down by three possessions with just under eight to play, the Beacons rallied to tie the game up at 62 with 2:01 to play, using a 14-7 run. UMB went 4-for-7 from the field, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line, in the run and were led by six points from Fevry and four each from Foster and Lagor. Conversely, the Huskies shot 2-for-9 from the field.
• With the game tied up at 62, Wiles hit one of two free throws to make it a 63-62 game before a Fevry jumper at 1:00 gave the Beacons their first lead since the end of the first quarter 64-63. Shipley was fouled on the Huskies next trip down the court and calmly hit two free throws to return the lead to USM 65-64.  On the Beacons' next trip down the court, Cote came up with a steal and Shipley hit Wiles with a long assist on the outlet for a layup and a 67-64 Husky lead with 22 seconds remaining.
• With the game seemingly in hand for Southern Maine, UMass Boston came up big on its next possession as Lagor canned a three from the wing to tie the game up at 67 with 17 seconds remaining. After a Husky timeout, Cote hit a turnaround jumper in the key with one second remaining to give USM a 69-67 lead.  With 0.5 seconds to play, UMB turned the ball over on the inbound and Wiles came up with the layup for the 71-67 final.

 
Inside The Stats:

• Southern Maine shot 35.6 percent (21-for-59) from the field for the game, and was 9-for-30 from three led by Cote's five. UMass Boston shot 50 percent (26-for-52) from the field.  Southern Maine had an advantage from the free throw line making 20-of-32 compared to UMass Boston's 12-for-20 effort.
• Both teams had 38 rebounds each.  The Huskies had 17 offensive rebounds led by six from Shipley and four from sophomore Emma Stred (China, Maine/Erskine Academy).  The Huskies scored 12 points off of second chance buckets.
• UMB outscored the Huskies' bench 34-16 led by 18 points from Hialeah Foster.
• Wiles' 16 points marked her seventh game this season in double-digits.  The Huskies' freshman guard is averaging 10.8 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

 
 
Up Next:
The Huskies will be on the road for their next two contests facing LEC opponents Western Connecticut (1:00 pm) and UMass Dartmouth (4:00 pm) on the road on January 11 and January 18 respectively.  Southern Maine returns to action at home on January 18 (12:00 pm) against VTSU-Castleton in conference acton
 
 
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