Beavers' season ends in NAC Quarterfinals

BANGOR, Maine -- The sixth-seeded University of Maine at Farmington women's basketball team was eliminated from the North Atlantic Conference Tournament as the Beavers were outlasted by No. 3 Husson University 70-65 in Newman Gymnasium tonight.

UMF closed out its season at 10-15. The Eagles (16-10) are headed to Castleton State College to face No. 2 Colby-Sawyer College in the conference semifinals on Friday.

Emma Morrison (Saco, Maine) led all scorers with 15 points for the Beavers, while Kenni Norton (Strong, Maine) tallied 13 points and Paige Saunders (Surry, Maine) pitched in with 12 points. Kelsey Graffam (Falmouth, Maine) grabbed nine rebounds as UMF outrebounded the Eagles 36-28.

The Beavers outshot the Eagles (42.1 percent to 39.2 percent) for the contest, including 51.9 percent in the second half to allow UMF back into a game it trailed 33-20 with 5:28 left to play in the first half.

Stephanie Comstock and Amanda Gifford each netted 14 points for Husson, which also received 12 points and nine rebounds from Brianna Hanscom and 10 points from Kelli Murray.

UMF fell behind by 13 points in the opening half, but battled back to stay on Husson's heels for the entire second half. The Beavers cut the lead to 50-49 with 8:57 to go in the game on a Morrison layup, but a 3-pointer by Gifford and a Hanscom jumper dashed UMF's opportunity to take the lead and gave the hosts a 55-49 advantage with 8:08 to play.

The Beavers were able to hold Husson without a basket for the final 5:16 of the game and get within two points on a pair of occasions, but the Eagles converted 10 of 12 foul shots (For the game, the Eagles made 23 of 30, while the Beavers were 12 of 14) to hold off UMF. A Morrison trey with 1:42 left made it 65-63, but, following an exchange of turnovers, Albert hit a pair of foul shots and Gifford made three of four to finish off the 70-65 win.

Emma Morrison	Kenni Norton	Paige Saunders	Kelsey Graffam	Rachel Clement