BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Senior Kari Pelletier (South Paris, Maine) made a pair of free throws with 18 seconds remaining to provide the winning difference, as the University of New England women's basketball team began the 2011-12 season with a 65-63 victory over the University of Southern Maine in a mutual season-opener Tuesday evening at the Campus Center.
The victory was the fourth consecutive for the Nor'easters over the Huskies, and was a rematch of last year's ECAC New England Championship title game.
With the scored tied at 63 and her team in the double bonus, Pelletier was fouled near halfcourt with 18 ticks on the clock. She stepped to the line and calmly sank both ends to give Big Blue a 65-63 advantage.
USM missed a jumper and a put-back attempt before Nor'easter junior Beth Suggs (Bath, Maine) controlled the rebound and was fouled. Suggs missed both free throw attempts, but Southern Maine was unable to get off a desparation heave before the horn sounded.
Suggs matched her career high with 18 points and added seven rebounds to lead the way for the Nor'easters. Senior forward Margo Russell (Madison, Maine) contributed 15 points, five boards and four assists. Senior Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) finished with nine points, 10 caroms, four assists and three steals, while Pelletier added seven points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Southern Maine senior forward Courtney Cochran (Waite, Maine) tallied game highs of 24 points and 13 rebounds. Cochran scored 15 points after halftime. Sophomore guard Jordan Grant (Concord, N.H.) came off the bench to record 10 points. Senior guard Renee Nicholas (Sebago, Maine) had nine points, eight rebounds, six assists and a pair of steals.
Despite shooting just 27.3 percent (9 of 33) from the floor in the first half, UNE held a slim two-point (34-32) advantage. The frame featured seven ties and the same number of lead changes.
The Nor'easters started the final frame by scoring seven of the opening 11 points to take a 41-36 lead with 15:43 remaining. From there, the Huskies got buckets from four different players, including a three-pointer by sophomore guard Erin McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.) to forge a 45-41 cushion.
UNE responded with a run of its own, reeling off nine unanswered points to go back up by five (50-45). Russell scored half of Big Blue's output during the run, including a jumper in the paint to cap the spurt at the 8:26 mark.
The rest of the way was tight, with neither team establishing a lead of more than three points.
Both teams struggled a bit from the floor -- the Nor'easters converted 30.6 percent (19 of 62) of their field goal tries in the victory compared to 35.9 percent (23 of 64) for Southern Maine. UNE won the battle of the boards (49-42) and outscored the visitors 22-9 from the charity stripe.
USM heads to Farmington this Friday and Saturday for the University of Maine Farmington Invitational. The Huskies take on UMaine Fort Kent and UMaine Presque Isle in their two contests.
Big Blue hosts Rhode Island College for a 2 p.m. non-conference tilt on Saturday.