BANGOR, Maine – In a closely matched afternoon of basketball, the Husson University Eagles pulled away from the University of Maine-Fort Kent Bengals (3-2) in the final two minutes of the game to keep their undefeated record intact and improve to 5-0 on the season. 

IN THE ACTION: 

A Shenise West jumper in the opening minute of the match gave the Bengals their lone lead of the afternoon, before Emma Alley tied the game, 2-2, draining a pair of free throws. Threes from Vanessa Duarte, Makaelyn Porter, and Katherine Alley helped the Eagles pull ahead on a 13-0 run with five minutes left in the first quarter. The Bengals managed to tack on seven points in the final three minutes of the frame to cut the Husson lead to 19-11. 

Bringing the score within a single basket, Keri La drained a three-pointer, followed by a layup from Ranika Guyton to bring the score to 19-16 just three minutes into the second quarter. Guyton kept chipping away at the deficit, hitting back-to-back shots to cut the deficit to one point, 21-20, with barely five minutes left to play in the half. Husson broke out ahead as they cruised into the break on a 14-6 run. 

After a slow start to the third quarter, the Eagles maintained a steady separation on the scoreboard between them and the Bengals with a ten-point cushion headed into the final period. 

UMFK opened up the fourth quarter with a new spark, led by La's deep shot from behind the arc and a pair of buckets by Hannah Jones to bring the score back within a few points, 49-46. Following a jumper from Husson's Duarte, neither team was able to find the hoop over the course of the next three minutes. Staying with five minutes up until the final two minutes of action, UMFK nearly caught up with Husson before a Trinity Montigny layup and Duarte three-pointer helped push the Eagles away from the Bengals to the final score of 62-54.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Vanessa Duarte achieved a career-high 24 points and was just shy of a double-double with her nine rebounds. 
• Sydney Allen went 7-for-10 from the charity stripe to contribute to her 11 points and eight boards. 
• Luci Rothwell earned her first career double-double as an Eagle with 14 rebounds and 11 points. 
• The leading scorer of the day was UMFK's Ranika Guyton, who played all but three minutes of the game and scored 25 points along with four assists.

UP NEXT!

The Husson women will wrap up their season next weekend with a pair of games against Saint Joseph's College (Maine). The first game of the series is set for Friday, March 26th on the Monks' home court with a 6:00 p.m. tipoff.