Henniker, NH – The sixth place Husson Eagles fell to third-seeded New England College in a close North Atlantic Conference (NAC) quarterfinal match on Tuesday evening, 55-50. With the win the Pilgrims improve to 18-8 on the season and advance to the NAC semifinals, while the Eagles close out their 2012-13 campaign with an overall record of 8-17.

The two teams would battle evenly through the opening minutes before NEC would use an 11-0 run to go up 17-6 with 13:56 on the clock.  The Pilgrims would grab their largest lead of the half up 12 before the Eagles would storm back cutting the lead to just seven with five minutes remaining in the half.  Husson would cut the deficit even more closing out the half scoring the final six points to head into halftime trailing just 32-29.

The two teams would stay close through much of the second half of play as the Pilgrims would grab their largest lead of the game up eight with 5:30 left to play.  Husson would trail just 50-49 with 1:49 on the clock but a layup and back-to-back foul shots by Lawlor would give NEC some breathing room as the Pilgrims would hold on for the 55-50 victory.

Leading the way for Husson University was Amanda Johnson (Skowhegan, ME), who finished with a team-high 15 points.  Husson's Stephanie Comstock (Bangor, ME) chipped in 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Kelli Murray (Shawmut, ME) ripped down a team-high eight rebounds.

New England College women's basketball guard Kayla Lawlor (Cocoa Beach, FL) would finish with a game-high 20 points. In addition to Lawlor the Pilgrims were led by Taylor Burgess (Randallstown, MD) finished with a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with nine points. NEC's Kate Levy (Woods Hole, MA) was the only other Pilgrim in double-figures chipping in 14 points.