Senior forward Courtney Cochran (Waite, Maine/Woodland) scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead four players in double figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies used a balanced scoring effort to defeat the UMass Boston Beacons 83-60 in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Tuesday night at the Clark Athletic Center in Boston.
The win improves the Huskies record to 12-4 overall and 4-2 in the Little East Conference. The loss snaps a two-game winning streak for the Beacons who fall to 5-11 and 2-4 in the conference.
Cochran was 7-for-12 from the floor en route to her team-high total as the Huskies shot well as a team connecting on 50.8 percent (32-of-63) of their shots. Senior guard Nicole Garland (Portland, Maine/Deering) connected on a trio of three-pointers to add 14 points, four rebounds and four assists. Junior forward Haley Jordan (Falmouth, Maine) tossed in 13 points, while sophomore guard Erin McNamara (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) added 10 points and a game-high six assists on 4-of-6 shooting. Senior guard Renee Nicholas (Sebago, Maine/Lake Region) and freshman forward Abby Hasson (South Portland, Maine) added eight and nine points respectively.
Freshman guard Lauren Perra (Taunton, Mass.) led all scorers with 18 points. Perra was an outstanding 5-for-8 from three-point range for the Beacons. Freshman center Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) added 15 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Teresa Pina (Boston, Mass./Charlestown) tossed in 12 points.
Leading by just a point, 10-9, after the first five minutes of play, the Huskies took control of the game over the final 15 minutes of the first half outscoring the Beacons 39-17 for a commanding 49-26 lead at the break. Southern Maine broke away from the Huskies with eight straight points from the 14:55 to the 12:00 minute mark as three different players scored led by four points from junior forward Jordan Grant (Concord, N.H.). Grant finished the game with six points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals off of the bench.
Jordan was the driving force in the Huskies' big first half, scoring all 13 of her points on a 6-for-9 effort from the floor. Cochran and Garland scored eight and seven points each, while Nicholas and McNamara each had six points.
The Beacons were able to cut the Huskies' lead to 15 points twice in the second half but each time the Huskies would answer back to bring the lead back to comfortable 20 points. Senior forward Elizabeth Dow (Marshfield, Mass.) led a 6-1 run in the opening 10 minutes of the second half. Dow scored back-to-back layups, to pull the Beacons to within 60-45 of USM with 13:06 to play, but senior guard Kim Rivet (Bridgton, Maine/Lake Region) and Garland answered with a 5-0 run on a lay-up and a three-pointer to lead 65-45 with 11:34.
Consecutive threes from Perra in the final five minutes had UMB trailing USM 74-58 with 3:58 to play, but Husky freshman Stephanie Gallagher (York, Maine) canned a three of her own to spur an 9-0 run for an 83-58 USM lead with 1:16 to play to close out the game.
Southern Maine outscored the Beacons 40-18 in the paint and 21-9 off of the bench. The Huskies held UMass Boston to a 30.3 percent (20-for-66) performance from the floor.
Southern Maine hosts LEC rival Eastern Connecticut State University on Saturday (1:00 p.m.). UMass Boston travels to Western Connecticut State University on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).