An empty trip for the Nor'easters and a pair of free throws by Mules junior Jen Nale (Belgrade, Maine) made it 54-50 with 21 seconds left, only to see UNE first-year Sadie DiPierro (South Portland, Maine) pull the hosts to within one (54-53) just six ticks later with a trey from the left corner.

Colby missed the front-end of a one-and-one at the free throw line and Big Blue controlled the ensuing rebound with 0:06 to go, but UNE's game-winning shot attempt rattled off the side of the rim.

First-year Carylanne Wolfington (Hallowell, Maine) led the Mules (4-3) with 14 points and seven rebounds, while Nale added 12 points and first-year Mia Diplock (Augusta, Maine) chipped in with nine.

Big Blue (4-3) was paced by sophomore Kelly Coleman (Portland, Conn.) with a career-high-tying 19 points and 11 boards. First-year Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine) contributed 11 points, four assists, and three steals, and senior Beth Suggs (Bath, Maine) totaled nine points and 11 rebounds.

UNE finished with a 40-30 edge on the glass, but fell to a NESCAC opponent by one point for the second straight outing.

Colby never trailed over the initial 34 minutes of the contest, going up by as many as 12 (26-14) late in the first half. The Nor'easter did manage to tally the final eight points in the frame to make the deficit 26-22 at the break, despite shooting just 26 percent (6-for-23) from the floor in the period. Coleman had six for UNE in the closing stretch.

Though the game was tied a couple of times as the second half began, the Mules built a margin of eight on two occasions (40-32, 43-35) before the midway point of the stanza.

Big Blue countered with a 14-2 run to gain its first lead of the night and a 49-45 cushion with 5:05 left. Gribbin sparked the momentum change with back-to-back layups and Coleman notched another six points before the string was over.

Colby answered immediately with a three-pointer from sophomore Brooke Chandor (Barrington, Ill.) to cut the UNE advantage to one. Then, trailing by two (50-48) with a little more than two minutes on the clock, senior Diana Manduca (Portland, Maine) knocked down a pair from the charity stripe to level things at 50-50.

The Nor'easters limited Manduca -- the Mules' leading scorer on the season (15.5) -- to more than 11 points below her average through the first six games.

Colby is off until December 30-31 when it heads to Keene State College for a two-day event, beginning with a date against Salve Regina University.

UNE plays one more before the holiday break -- Big Blue will entertain Saint Joseph's College (Maine) on Saturday with tip-off set for 1 p.m.