Three University of Maine at Farmington women's basketball players charted double-doubles to lead the Beavers to an 83-70 win over Fisher College, in Friday's second game of the Dunkin' Donuts UMaine-Farmington Tip-Off Tournament at Dearborn Gym.
UMaine-Farmington (1-0) will face Southern Maine (1-0) in Saturday's 3:00 p.m. tournament championship game, after the Huskies dispatched Salve Regina University,
67-45, in Friday's early contest. Salve Regina (0-1) will battle Fisher (1-2) in Saturday's 1:00 p.m. consolation game.
Sophomore forward Meghan Smith led the Beavers with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Lindsay Ranquist tallied 15 points and 16 boards. Sophomore forward Elizabeth Ferry tallied 13 points and 14 rebounds for UMF.
As a team, UMaine-Farmington outrebounded Fisher, 73-36, on its way to its highest single-game point total since a 90-76 win over Thomas on January 16, 2010.
Javana Brown led Fisher with a game-high 20 points, while Alexis Akridge finished with 16 points and Porsha Grayson chipped in with 15.
The Beavers struggled to shake a pesky Fisher squad throughout much of the game, and the Falcons were still within striking distance with 8:36 remaining with UMF holding a 69-65 lead.
A traditional three-point play by Smith extended the Farmington lead to 72-65, and another bucket and foul for Smith with 6:12 showing left the Beavers with a 77-67 lead. Layups by Ferry and freshman Bridget Humphreypushed UMF over the 80-point mark, and a Holly Oliverfree throw capped the 14-3 run to give Farmington an 82-68 lead with 4:09 on the clock.
In the early game, Southern Maine's 9-1 run to end the half gave the Huskies a 26-21 halftime lead, after the USM trailed Salve Regina for much of the first half. Rebecca Knight had six points in the Huskies' late first half surge, on her way to a game-high 16 points.
Knight completed the double-double with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Abby Hasson added 10 points off the bench for Southern Maine, and was the only other Husky in double-figures.
Meghan Harden paced Salve Regina with 14 points, while Marissa Pendergast tallied nine points to go with her team-high eight rebounds.