BOSTON – Senior Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine/Messalonskee) scored 17 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked seven shots – all game-high totals – to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 54-51 win over the UMass Boston Beacons in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Wednesday evening at Clark Athletic Center.
The win is the fourth straight for the Huskies and their sixth in the last seven games, improving their overall record to 10-6 and 5-1 in the Little East. The loss is the second straight for the Beacons who fall to 9-7 overall and 2-4 in the LEC.
Pelletier was 7-for-12 from the field to lead three Huskies in double figures. Senior Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas) and sophomore Miranda Nicely (Farmington, Maine/Mt. Blue) each scored 10 points. Anderson added six rebounds and a game-high five assists, while Nicely was 4-for-5 from the field with five rebounds in a solid effort off of the bench. Senior Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine/Deering), who was in foul trouble for much of the game, added eight points, including a 6-for-6 effort from the free throw line.
Junior Chantel Jordan (Brockton, Mass.) led the Beacons with 13 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Sophomore Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass./North Quincy) tossed in nine points, while classmate Raven Kelsey (Boston, Mass./John D. O'Bryant) added eight points, and freshman Ariana Rivera (Burlington, Mass.) had seven points.
Despite leading by as many as 11 points, 40-29, late in the third quarter, Southern Maine found itself in a dogfight in the closing minutes of the game. After a three from sophomore Kristie McNall (Wakefield, Mass.) to open the fourth quarter for a 43-33 lead with 9:35 to play, Southern Maine went ice cold and the Beacons rattled off six unanswered points over the next three minutes and 23 seconds to trim their deficit to 43-39 on a pair of free throws from senior Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.). UMB scored four of its six points from the free throw line as USM committed five fouls and two turnovers during that stretch, and went 0-for-3 from the floor.
Nicely halted the UMB run with a layup for a 45-39 Huskies' lead with 5:58 to play. Both teams squandered possessions over the next two minutes before Jordan converted a layup for UMD, pulling the Beacons to within two possessions of USM, 45-41, with 4:02 to play, but Pelletier answered back with a move in the paint for a 47-41 lead with 3:18 on the clock.
Again both teams came up empty over the next few possessions, before Murphy benefitted from an Edwards steal and an assist for a 47-43 USM lead with 1:49 to play. With the momentum trending towards the Beacons and offense and a premium, Southern Maine's Ramonas hauled down a key offensive rebound and then sank a pair of free throws to put her team ahead 49-43 with 1:25 to play. The Beacons did not go quietly, scoring four straight points on layups from Geary and Jordan to trail 49-47 with 27 seconds to play, but Southern Maine closed the game out on the line, making five of six free throws down the stretch, including two each from Anderson and Ramonas.
Southern Maine hosts Eastern Connecticut State on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) in a Little East Conference tilt. UMass Boston travels to Western Connecticut Saturday (1:00 p.m.).
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