Box Score Husson University's women's basketball defeated Thomas College 109-77 clinching first place in the North Atlantic Conference and the right to host the NAC Championship on February 25-26. With the win the defending NAC champions improve to 14-11 (12-2 NAC) while Thomas falls to (8-14) (6-8 NAC). Thomas' talented junior, Karen Bird, achieved her 1000th point in this afternoon's contest.
Husson honored the contributions made by seniors Caitlyn Butterfield, Noelle Lincoln, and Bethany Sevey at their senior day. Upon the start of the game Karen Bird put up one of two foul shots to put the Terriers on the scoreboard first. Alexis Evans sunk a three for Thomas to increase their lead to 4-0 but was immediately answered by a three point shot by Noelle Lincoln. Tight Terrier defense forced early turnovers and Bird put up another shot to push the Terrier lead to 10-3. With 15:46 left in the first half, Junior Karen Bird hit a free throw to score her 1000th point.
Bethany Sevey dialed the Eagles to within one point of the Terriers with a three and traded the next two baskets with Evans, resulting in a 16-14 Terrier lead. A put-back by Husson's Stephanie Comstock knotted the game at 16 at the 14:09 mark in the first half, and Amanda Gifford gave the Eagles their first lead of the game with a jumper on the ensuing play.
Kellie Martel and Karen Bird scored back-to-back three point shots for Thomas that were met with a Caitlyn Butterfield three. The threes were flying as Martel answered with another, making it a 25-21 Thomas game with 12:29 left in the half.
With 10:06 left in the half, Sevey gave Husson a 29-28 lead as she drained a three-point shot from the upper right of the key. Lincoln upped the Eagle lead to 32-28 with a three from a similar spot. Amanda Gifford hit a buzzer-beater layup to end the half with a 55-37 Husson lead.
Thomas' Karin Bird led all scorers in the half with 16 points, shooting 3-5 from the three point range. Martel contributed 12 points, all of them from beyond the arc.
As a team, Husson hit 68.8% of their shots from three-point range shooting 11-16 in the first half. Bethany Sevey led the Eagles with 14 points on the half, scoring four three-point shots. Kelli Murray and Marissa Albert contributed 9 points apiece.
Sevey opened the half with yet another three, upping the Husson lead to 58-37. The Eagles continued to pull away throughout the remainder of the game which ended with a 109-77 victory.
Thomas' Kellie Martel led all scorers with 30 points, shooting 10-19 from three point range. Martel was followed by Karen Bird who scored 26 points and pulled down 5 rebounds, shooting 8-13 from the floor.
The scoring was spread throughout the Husson lineup, with Bethany Sevey leading the charge with 25 points, shooting 7-10 from three point range. Noelle Lincoln tallied 16 points, Amanda Gifford netted 14, while Stephanie Comstock contributed 14 points.
Three point shots were the story of the night as Husson shot 56.7% (17-30) from beyond the arc and 55.1% overall. Thomas hit 39.4% of their three-pointers, shooting 40.6% overall.
When asked about the opportunity for her team to defend their North Atlantic Championship from the previous year, Head Coach Kissy Walker stated, "I'm very excited for the team and that we are going to be playing at Home."
