With its fifth straight win, Southern Maine remains undefeated at 5-0.  The Polar Bears fall to 1-3 with their second straight loss.

            Knight was an outstanding 10-for-13 from the field en route to her game-high total.  She added six rebounds and a pair of assists.  Senior forward Haley Jordan (Falmouth, Maine) added 14 points and senior guard Nicole Garland (Portland, Maine/Deering) tossed in 13 points, including three three-pointers.  Junior forward Nash Biliew (Portland, Maine) played a tremendous game off of the bench for the Huskies adding 11 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds to help USM to a 34-30 advantage on the boards.

            Bowdoin senior guard Kaitlin Donahoe (Amherst, N.Y./Nichols School) led her team with 19 points.  She was 6-for-14 from the field with three three-pointers and had four steals.  Sophomore Megan Phelps (Southwest Harbor, Maine/Mount Desert Island) was the only other Bowdoin player in double figures with 11 points and 10 rebounds. 

            Trailing Bowdoin 5-3 following a jumper from Donahoe in the opening minutes of the contest, the Huskies grabbed the lead from the Polar Bears, 6-5, on the first of three three-pointers from Garland at the 16:27 mark.  It was a lead USM would not relinquish the rest of the way on its way to its fifth straight win. The Huskies would lead by as many as 10 points, 33-23, late in the first half, before the Polar Bears used a 7-2 run over the final four minute to pull to within 35-30 of USM at the break. 

            Bowdoin scored the first four points of the second half on a pair of free throws from Donahoe and a layup from freshman forward Shannon Brady (Scituate, Mass.) to trail the Huskies 35-34 with 18:23 on the clock, but USM would respond with an 8-0 run to extend its lead to 43-34 with 15:58 to play.  A long jumper from Garland was followed with a pair of baskets from Jordan before Biliew capped the run with two free throws.

            The Huskies remained in control of the game, but the Polar Bears would pull to within two possessions of the twice over the next eight minutes.  Bowdoin trailed USM by six, 52-46, after another jumper from Donahoe before Knight took the game over in the final seven minutes of the game.  After Donahoe's jumper, Jordan knocked down a three for a 55-46 cushion and then Knight took charge scoring 15 straight points for the Huskies as part of a 20-12 run to close out the game.  Knight's final bucket – a three-pointer – gave USM an insurmountable 70-52 lead with 1:47 to play.  Bowdoin closed out the game with a pair of threes of its own for the 72-58 final.

         Southern Maine hosts Little East Conference rival Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) in its conference opener.  Bowdoin hosts Colby on Saturday (2:00 p.m.). 

–cac–