Bangor, ME - The Husson University Eagles advanced to the North Atlantic Conference (NAC) championship with a 61-54 win over the University of Maine at Farmington Beavers.  With the win, the Eagles improve to 15-0 in the NAC and 18-8 overall.  The Beavers end their season 9-6 in the conference and 12-13 overall.

 Bethany Sevey (Jr., Skowhegan, ME) got the Eagles on the board first with a three that was immediately answered by a jumper from Beaver Jillian Ross (Jr., Belfast, ME).   Kenni Norton (Fy., Strong, ME) hit a layup to give the Beavers their largest lead of the game at 21-15.  Husson's Bree Hanscom (So., Mattawamkeag, ME) tied the game at 21, making a foul shot.  Amanda Gifford (So., Lee, ME) hit one of two foul shots and followed with a jumper to give the Eagles a 24-21 lead and round out 9-0 scoring run.  Shelby Bradford (Sr., Lee, ME) hit a jumper with 10 seconds left on the clock to end the half 26-23.

On the half, Ross led the Beavers with 8 points and 6 rebounds, followed by Caitlyn Lafin (Sr., Farmingdale, ME) with 5 points and 5 rebounds.   Amanda Gifford tallied 8 points for the Eagles and Hanscom contributed 7 points.

 Maine Farmington's Laflin opened the half with a spinning layup that she immediately followed with a jumper to give the Beavers a 27-26 lead.  Husson's Gifford made a long three point shot followed by a Hanscom layup to bring the Eagle lead to 31-27.  Grabbing her own rebound, UMF's Ross tied the game at 33 with a layup.  Erica Lyford (Fr., Legrange, ME) hit a three point jumper to give the Eagles a 10 point lead at 55-45, their largest of the game with 7:11 left in the game. 

 With 2:32 left in the game, UMF's Ashley Busque (Jr., Belgrade, ME) hit a three to come within 4 points of the Eagles at 58-54.  Gifford was fouled with 37.4 seconds left in the game and hit one of two foul shots to make it a 59-54 Eagle lead.  With 6.9 seconds left in the game, Hanscom hit one of two free throws to end the game with a 61-54 Husson victory over Maine Farmington. 

Top scorers for the game were Caitlyn Laflin with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Jillian Ross with 14 points and 11 rebounds for the UMF Beavers.  Bree Hanscom led the Eagles with 16 points shooting 7 of 12 from the floor while Amanda Gifford shot 15 points shooting 7 of 9 from the floor.

The Husson Eagles will compete in the championship game tomorrow at 2:00 against the winner of tonight's contest between Castleton and Maine Maritime.