GORHAM, Maine—Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) capped off her record-tying performance by hitting one of two free throws with a second to play, to lift UMass Boston women's basketball past the University of Southern Maine 69-68 Tuesday evening in Little East Conference play.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 69, Southern Maine 68
(UMass Boston 13-9, Little East 5-6)
(Southern Maine 12-10, Little East 6-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Ella Ramonas hit a game-tying three-pointer with six seconds to play, Geary caught the ball at midcourt and drove to the paint, before drawing a blocking foul with .9 seconds left. The sophomore drained the first and then purposefully missed the second, to lift the Beacons to their third-straight victory.
Geary tied the program-record for points in a game with 33, as she knocked down 10-of-18 shots, 2-of-5 3-point attempts and 11-of-15 free throws. The sophomore tacked on five rebounds, five assists and five steals in 37 minutes of action.
With her 33 points, Geary tied Carolyn Lewis ('82), Jamila Gales ('03) and teammate Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) for the most points in a single game. The 33 points eclipsed her previous career high of 28 points, which Geary reached on January 20, 2015 at UMass Dartmouth.
Murphy had a monster game of her own, as the senior registered her 12th double-double of the year and 51st of her career. The senior finished with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds in 31 minutes.
Junior Chantel Jordan (Brockton, Mass.) added seven points, three assists and two rebounds, while Katrina Edwards (Springfield, Mass.) tacked on two points and six rebounds.
Megan Pelletier (20 points and eight rebounds) and Ramonas (16 points) paced the way for the Huskies, who dropped their third game in their past four contests.
Southern Maine opened the game red-hot, as they knocked down six of their first nine shots to grab a 16-6 advantage. UMass Boston answered right back though, as Geary and Murphy sparked a 13-2 flurry to grab a 20-19 lead after one.
Neither side could wrestle control of the game in the second quarter, as the Beacons took a 35-32 lead into the break.
UMass Boston nearly blew open the game to start the third, as they used an 8-0 run to grab their largest lead of the game at 42-32. Geary opened the half with a 3-pointer, before Murphy tacked on a layup. On the next two possessions, Geary went 1-for-2 from the free throw line to push the lead to 42-32 with 7:40 left in the third.
Southern Maine would slowly fight their way back into the game, as they cut the deficit to 63-61, heading into the final minute of the fourth.
Geary pushed the lead back to four (65-61) with a running lay-in with 56 seconds left, only to have Pelletier answer with two free throws. On the next possession, Geary hit one of two free throws to push the lead to 66-63 with 23 ticks left.
Ramonas and Geary traded free throws over the next 11 seconds, giving Southern Maine the ball back-trailing by three (66-63).
The Huskies executed a perfect inbounds play, with Ramonas draining a 3-pointer from the top of the key to tie the game with six seconds left. On the next inbounds, Kelsey found Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) and Burston threw it ahead for Geary at half court. Geary took three dribbles, before drawing a block on Kimberly Howrigan with less than a second to play.
The sophomore knocked down the first free throw and purposefully missed the second, to give UMass Boston their second-straight road-win over the Huskies.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston posted their second-best game of the season at the free throw line, by finishing 18-of-23 (78.8 percent).
- The Beacons ended the day shooting 44.4 percent (24-of-54) and 3-of-11 (27.3 percent) from behind the arc.
- With the win, UMass Boston improved to 2-58 all-time against the Huskies, with both wins coming in Gorham.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will look to earn a season-sweep of Plymouth State University on Saturday, when the two teams play at 1 p.m. in New Hampshire.