Box Score

WATERVILLE, Maine -- The University of New England women's basketball team held the nation's 14th-ranked squad, Colby College, scoreless for the initial 3-plus minutes of overtime and converted all 10 of its free throw tries in the extra session to secure a 70-63 upset of the Mules in a non-conference contest Tuesday evening at Wadsworth Gymnasium.

The win -- which even made it as a headline on NCAA.com -- is just the second that has gone to UNE (5-1) in the last 11 meetings between the teams. The setback was the first of the season for Colby, which also sits now at 5-1.

Senior Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) went for a match-best and season-high 26 points on 11-of-18 shooting from the field to lead the Nor'easters. Junior Beth Suggs (Bath, Maine) registered her second double-double of the season, posting 14 points and a career-best 17 rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Rousseau (Biddeford, Maine) tossed in another 14 points -- off the bench -- to aid the cause.

In overtime, both teams came up empty on their first two possessions, and a pair of freebies by Paradis with 3:20 left gave the visitors a lead they would not relinquish. The guard got a lay-up to go on the next trip down, making it 60-56.

UNE got two more free throws from senior Margo Russell (Madison, Maine) before a shot from deep by junior Jacky McLaughlin (Medfield, Mass.) cut the margin to three (62-59) with 1:39 to go, but Big Blue notched the following six points to put the game out-of-reach inside the final minute. The Nor'easters did not miss a shot attempt of any kind during the last 1:58 of the bonus period.

While Colby senior Jil Vaughan (Wareham, Mass.) scored just 19 seconds into the contest, both groups were slow to start. Back-to-back baskets from Paradis put Big Blue on top at the 16:03 mark of the first half, and were the beginning of an 11-0 run to assume a nine-point lead after eight minutes of action. After a hoop by Suggs in the middle of the stretch, Paradis had the next five.

The Mules chipped away at the deficit over the following nine minutes, and two from senior Rachel Mack (Augusta, Maine) knotted things at 22-22 with 3:22 on the clock. Only three more points went on the board before halftime, in the form of tow free throws for UNE, and one for Colby, so the Nor'easters took a 24-23 edge into the break.

Though things were much tighter in the second period, UNE maintained the advantage for most of the frame. Mack did swing the lead to the hosts at 27-25 early in the half, but Paradis came right back down for a lay-up to tie it back up. A small surge both ways set the stage for senior Aarika Ritchie's (Lee, Maine) trey to give the Mules a 36-35 cushion, however the next five points went for Rousseau to again keep Colby from gaining any momentum.

For the game, UNE trailed for a total of just three minutes and 36 seconds -- 2:56 of which ran off after the first score of the night.

The Big Blue lead never extended beyond five inside the final 10 minutes of regulation, and sat at four (55-51) with 2:44 left. Ritchie canned her second trifecta of the half to trim it to one (55-54) at the 1:55 mark, and, after a lengthy sequence where UNE seized four offensive rebounds without scoring and an empty trip the other way, Rousseau hit the first of two free throws to make the difference two (56-54) with 21 ticks on the clock.

Junior Diana Manduca (Portland, Maine) raced back down to lay in the tying hoop with 16 seconds remaining, and a UNE turnover gave Colby the opportunity to go the full distance starting with 7.3 seconds to go, but the jumper from the top of the key fell short as the buzzer before overtime sounded.

Manduca paced the Mules with 21 points, including nine from downtown, to go with five assists and five steals. Ritchie closed with 15 points, while Mack and Vaughan each added eight. Mack also grabbed a team-best 10 caroms.

Junior Liz LeBlanc (Jay, Maine) hit two treys to contribute seven for Big Blue, which ended with an 11-point margin in its favor on points from the foul line (20-9).

Paradis -- now with 50 points in her last two games -- moves into 10th place on the UNE all-time scoring list at 1,210, passing the 1,208 held by Melissa Roller '04.

The Nor'easters play once more before the winter break on Saturday, as they head to Saint Joseph's College (Maine) for a 1 p.m. meeting. Colby visits Emmanuel College the same day (2 p.m.).


(Updated 12/07/11 5:30 p.m.)