REGIS COLLEGE FALLS IN ECAC QUARTERFINAL

GORHAM, Maine   –  Junior Courtney Cochran (Waite, Maine/Woodland) scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 62-59 win over the Regis College Pride in a quarterfinal game of the 2011 ECAC Division III New England Women’s Basketball Championship tournament Wednesday night at Hill Gymnasium in Gorham, Maine.

With the win, the second-seeded Huskies improve to 17-10 and advance to the semifinal round of the tournament.  The Huskies will face the third-seeded Endicott College Gulls on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine.  UNE is the top seed in the tournament and advanced to the semifinals with a 64-54 win over Smith College.  The loss concludes the Pride’s season at 16-12. 

Cochran was one of three Huskies in double-figures.  The 6-1 forward was 7-for-12 from the field with three blocked shots.  Freshman guard Erin McNamara(West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) added 11 points, including three three-pointers while junior guard Renee Nicholas (Sebago, Maine/Lake Region) chipped in with 10 points and three assists. 

Junior guard Stephanie Crawford (Rockland, Mass./Rockland) led the Pride with 17 points and four assists on a 5-for-11 shooting.  Freshman forward Claire Ramonas (Portland, Maine/Deering) added 15 points and seven rebounds.  Sophomore guard Alex Chace (North Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) chipped in with 12 points off of the bench. 

Trailing the Pride by five, 46-41, with 10:59 to play in the second half following a pair of free throws from Ramonas the Huskies rallied to tie the score up at 50 points each with 7:07 to play after a 9-4 run.  Cochran scored four points in the run, while Nicholas added three points and an assist. 

Both teams battled back and forth over the next five minutes with neither team taking more than a two-point lead.   A clutch three from McNamara gave the Huskies a narrow 59-57 lead with 1:59 to play before Ramonas pulled the Pride even with a layup with 1:42 to play.  Both teams misfired on their ensuing possessions before USM senior forward Becky Dixon (Gardiner, Maine) came up huge for the Huskies grabbing an offensive rebound with 31 seconds to play.  Getting fouled on her put back attempt, Dixon calmly sank two free throws to put the Huskies up 61-59.  Dixon finished the game with seven points, eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks and a steal. 

In their next possession, the Pride had a look at the basket for a three, but Nicholas cleared the glass for the USM and sank one of two free throws for a 62-59 game with 14 seconds remaining.  The Huskies blanketed the Pride offense in the final second of the game and they were unable to get a clean look at the basket.