BOSTON, Mass.—Southern Maine women's basketball (9-9, 5-3 Little East) used a 12-4 run over the final 4:24, to escape the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium with a 52-48 victory over UMass Boston Women's Basketball (11-7, 4-4 Little East) Tuesday evening at the Clark Athletic Center Gymnasium.

With the Beacons looking poised to earn their first-ever victory over the Huskies, Southern Maine outscored UMass Boston 34-19 in the second half, including 12-4 over the final five minutes to improve to 61-0 all-time against the Beacons.

The Beacons jumped out to a 29-18 lead at halftime and extended their advantage to as many as 16 with 14:55 to play, only to have the veteran Huskies chip away at the lead and take their first lead of the contest with 3:21 to play.

Junior forward Megan Pelletier led the Huskies with 17 points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists. Fellow junior Rebecca Knight added eight points, six assists and five rebounds, while junior Gretchen Anderson and freshman Kayla Stacy made huge contributions off the bench.

Freshman guard Grace Geary (Falmouth, Mass.) nearly keyed a historic victory, as the freshman drained 4-of-8 3-point attempts en-route to a team-high 18 points and four assists. Olivia Murphy (Canton, Mass.) was the only other Beacon to finish in double-figures, as the junior recorded her second-straight double-double with 14 points and 16 boards. 

Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) and Katie Mathieu (Coventry, Conn.) were the only other two Beacons to finish with more than one made field-goal, as the Beacons' bench was outscored 15-5.

Southern Maine overcame a poor first half to shoot 35.6 percent (21-of-59) from the field and 17.4 percent (4-for-23) from distance. The Beacons knocked down just 32.0 percent (16-for-50) of their field goal attempts and 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) 3-point attempts.

Despite giving up a bit of size down low, Southern Maine earned a 26-10 edge in points in the paint.

It was a tale of two halves for the Beacons, as UMass Boston dominated the first half en route to an 11-point halftime edge.

After the two teams opened the game tied 9-9 in the first 6:19, UMass Boston used a 20-9 run to close out the half to take control. Murphy started the flurry with a pair of layups, before Geary and Murphy added two more points apiece to open up a 17-11 advantage. Ella Romonas cut the deficit back to four moments later, only to have Geary and Burston knock down three-straight 3-points to close out the half to make it 29-18. 

UMass Boston carried the momentum into the second half, as they scored the first five points of the half to earn a 34-18 lead with 14:55 to play. Pelletier and Geary would trade three points on the next possession, before Southern Maine used a big run to get back into the game.

The Huskies used a 13-2 flurry to cut the deficit to just five points, as five different Huskies scored during the six-minute stretch.

UMass Boston would maintain a two-possession lead for the next four minutes, only to have Southern Maine close out the game on a 12-4 run. Anderson started the stretch with a layup to cut the deficit to four and senior captain Stephanie Gallagher buried a 3-pointer moments later to make it 44-43 with 3:48 left.

On the next possession, Pelletier came up with a steal and added a layup to give the Huskies their first lead of the game at 45-44 with 3:21 to play.

After a pair of missed free throws and a missed 3-pointer, UMass Boston evened the game at 45-45 when Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass.) hit the second of her two free throws.

Knight would answer right back though, as the junior knocked down a layup to make it 47-45 with 96 seconds to play. Murphy responded with a pair of free throws on the next possession with 1:07 to play. After both teams failed to score on their next possession, Anderson drew a foul and hit a pair of free throws to make it 49-47 with 36 seconds left.

Stacy would add another free throw with 22 seconds left and Pelletier capped off the contest with a layup, to give Southern Maine just their third win of the month.

UMass Boston will travel to Rhode Island College Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. for a key Little East Conference contest.