BANGOR — Amanda Gifford posted 14 points and seven rebounds as the top-seeded Husson University women’s basketball team held off UMaine-Farmington 66-62 Friday night and advanced to Saturday’s 2 p.m. NAC championship game against No. 2 Castleton State.
Kelli Murray tallied 12 points in Husson’s balanced attack, while Bethany Sevey, Stephanie Comstock and Caitlyn Butterfield contributed nine points apiece.
Ashley Busque had a game-high 22 points for the Beavers while Kenni Norton added 13.
UMF (12-13) 63
Busque 8-1-22, Gordon 0-2-2, Norton 5-2-13, Gagne, Clement 1-1-3, Oliver 1-2-4, Saunders 3-0-6, Morrison 1-0-2, Ross 3-1-8, Whitaker 1-0-2
Husson (14-11) 66
Butterfield 4-0-9, Lincoln 1-0-3, Gifford 5-4-14, Hanscom 1-2-4, Sevey 3-0-9, Albert 2-0-6, McGee, Murray 5-1-12, Comstock 2-5-9
3-pt. goals: Busque 5, Norton Ross; Sevey 3, Albert 2, Murray, Butterfield, Lincoln
Halftime: Husson 39-32
Castleton 51, MMA 46
At Husson University in Bangor, the Spartans built a 14-point halftime lead and didn’t trail again while advancing to the NAC title game for the third consecutive season.
Castleton State limited No. 3 Maine Maritime Academy of Castine to 24 percent shooting (13-for-54). Alyssa Leonard led a balanced effort with 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Vanessa Powers netted 11 points and Christine Jaques nine.
Leah Jackson paced the Mariners with 10 points, 14 rebounds and four steals. Maggie Smith tallied nine points.
Maine Maritime (17-10)
Smith 2-5-9, Pushard 1-6-8, Knights, Flannery, Jones 1-0-2, Dufour, Stahl 3-1-7, McCloskey 2-0-6, Hunt, Jackson 2-6-10, Everest 2-0-4
Castleton State (18-8)
Jaques 2-3-9, Conway 2-2-6, Bull, Johnson 1-0-2, Bolognani 1-0-3, Powers 4-3-11, Race 1-3-5, Leonard 5-0-12, Dunchus 1-1-3
3-pt. goals: McCloskey 2; Jaques 2, Bolognani, Leonard 2
Halftime: Castleton State 29-21
ECSU 78, So. Maine 64
At Danbury, Conn., Piper Chapman scored a game-high 25 points to spark No. 3 Eastern Connecticut to an 80-64 Little East Conference semifinal victory over second-seeded University of Southern Maine of Gorham.
Trailing by five points, the Warriors went on a 13-4 scoring run to take a 47-42 lead and maintained the upper hand the rest of the way.
Nicole Garland paced the Huskies with 22 points, including six 3-pointers, while Courtney Cochran and Kaylie DeMillo each netted 10 points.
Baseball
Averett sweeps UMPI
At Danville, Va., Averett University edged the University of Maine-Presque Isle 5-4 in the opener of a college baseball doubleheader, then rolled out the big guns to win 19-1 in the second game.
After the Owls took a 3-1 lead in the top of the fifth of the first game, Averett scored three times in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead for good.
James Fiorella rapped a double and a single with two RBIs for the Cougars, and Adam Higgins added two singles and two RBIs. Tyler Muench pitched six innings to get the win, and Chris Moyer pitched the seventh for the save.
Carlos Villoria launched a two-run homer, scored twice and had three RBIs for the Owls. Steven Thorne and Ted Walker each had a double. Jordan Perry took the loss, pitching 4 2/3 innings, giving up five hits, walking two and striking out seven.
In the second game, Cody Moore clouted two homers and knocked in five runs for the Cougars, and Kyle Newcomb posted a double, three singles and three RBIs. Starter Kevin Lupo went four innings for the win.
Anthony Batchelder led the Owls with a pair of singles. Andrew Carter took the loss.
(First Game)
UM-Presque Isle 000 120 1 — 4 6 1
Averett 001 031 x — 5 7 2
Perry, Fillebrown (5) and Csiernik; Muench, Moyer (7) and Fiorella
(Second Game)
UMPI (0-7) 000 001 0 — 1 5 4
Averett (6-7) 126 523 x — 19 16 2
Carter, Kingsbury (4), Thompson (4), Cote (4), Brown (6), Sisson (6) and Csiernik, Malloy (5); Lupo, Hessler (5), Hatami (6), Rouff (7) and Spruill
Softball
Maine splits two games
At Orlando, Ashley Kelley spun a five-hitter, striking out three and walking two as Maine defeated Villanova 4-0 in the first game of the day.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City shut out the Black Bears 6-0 in the late game.
In the first game, Jennifer Eberhardt had two doubles and a single to drive in a run while Terren Hall singled in another run for the Black Bears. Cassie Hodgson had Maine’s other hit with a single.
In the second game, Katie Franks pitched a three-hitter to blank the Bears. She struck out five and walked two, with Anna Sokolik providing three singles and two RBIs to pace the offense.
Terren Hall singled and stole a base for UMaine behind losing pitcher Beth Spoehr, who allowed eight hits and four runs in five innings.
(First Game)
Maine 001 010 0 — 4 5 0
Villanova (2-4) 000 000 0 — 0 5 2
Kelley and MacDowell; Marquez and Manning
(Second Game)
Maine (3-4) 000 000 0 — 0 3 1
Missouri-KC (7-3) 200 022 x — 6 10 0
Spoehr, Sparks (6) and Stevens; Franks and Henning
Team, Team