DANBURY, Conn. – Sophomore forward Becky Dixon (Pittston, Maine/Gardiner) scored a lay-up with 16 seconds remaining to lift the nationally-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies women’s basketball team to a 56-54 Little East Conference win over the Western
Connecticut State University Colonials Saturday at Feldman Arena in Danbury.

Earning their fourth straight win, the Huskies conclude their regular season with a 23-2 overall record and a 13-1 mark in the Little East, clinching the Little East Conference regular season crown and earning the top seed in the upcoming LEC tournament. Western
Connecticut falls to 19-5 overall with the loss and 11-3 in the conference.

Since the inception of the conference during the 1986-1987 season, Southern Maine has won or shared 20 of 22 regular season championships. The win also marked Southern Maine’s 250th win over a Little EastConference opponent in the conference’s 22-year history. Since 1986-1987, Southern Maine has posted a 250-22 record against its conference foes.

Senior forward Angela Santa Fe (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) and junior forward Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Academy) combined to scored 25 of the Huskies 56 points notching 13 and 12 points respectively. Senior forward Shannon Kynoch (S. Burlington, Vt./S.
Burlington) added eight points and six rebounds, while Dixon finished with seven points and seven rebounds off of the bench. Sophomore guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine) chipped in with five points, five assists and a career and game-high eight rebounds.

Sophomore forward Katie Moffo (Southington, Conn.) scored a game-high 23 points on 9-for-14 shooting to lead the Colonials off of the bench. Senior guard Ally Greenwood (East Hartford, Conn./Cromwell) added nine points, seven assists, six rebounds and three steals in a solid
all-around effort and freshman center Melissa Teel (Hamden, Conn.) chipped in with eight rebounds and five rebounds.

Trailing by eight (47-39) with 5:15 remaining in the game, Western Connecticut mounted a come-back bid rattling off an 11-2 run to pull ahead of Southern Maine 50-49 with 1:47 to play. After a pair of free throws from USM senior Josalee Danieli (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) for the 47-39 lead, Western Connecticut scored a quick five point swing on a jumper from junior forward Stacey Roberts (Windham, Conn./Windham) and the second of two three-pointers from Moffo.

Southern Maine freshman Kaylie DeMillo (Jay, Maine) halted the Colonial spurt with a mid-range jumper, but the Colonials fired off the next six points straight, including four points from Moffo. Moffo’s pair of free throws with 1:47 on the clock gave Western Connecticut its first lead of the game.

Kent returned the lead in the Huskies’ favor converting a lay-up, but it was quickly regained by Western Connecticut when Moffo scored her sixth straight point of the game on a lay-up following an assist from Greenwood with 1:17 to play. Southern Maine’s Paradis responded
however scoring her only points of the half, draining a long three-pointer off of an assist from DeMillo with 58 seconds remaining to put the Huskies ahead by two, 54-52. Moffo tied the score with a lay-up on the Colonials next possession with 47 to play, but Dixon was able to come up with game-winner grabbing an offensive rebound and sinking the lay-up on the left side of the basket with 14 seconds to play. Moffo fired off a potential game-winning three-point attempt with seconds to play, but it fell short and Paradis secured the rebound as the Huskies
held on for the win.

Southern Maine, the top seed in the LEC tournament, hosts the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, the eighth-seed, in the a quarterfinal game on Tuesday at a time to be determined. Western Connecticut, the three-seed, will host sixth-seeded Plymouth State University on the same date at a time to be determined. The semifinals and finals of the tournament will be hosted as the highest remaining seed following Tuesday’s games on Friday and Saturday (February 29 and March 1).

                                                                     -cac-