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WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – Junior guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine) and sophomore guard Kaylie DeMillo (Jay, Maine) hit consecutive three-point field goals in the final two minutes to spark the third-seeded University of Southern Maine to a 64-59 victory over No. 1 seed Eastern Connecticut State University in the finals of the 2009 Little East Conference women’s basketball tournament Saturday afternoon at Francis E. Geissler Gymnasium.

The win is the 19th LEC title in the 23-year history of the tournament for Southern Maine (22-6), which receives the automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Division III Tournament, which gets underway Wednesday with first-round game. Ranked 14th nationally and fifth in the NCAA Northeast Region, is expected to receive an at-large bid to the tournament. Eastern was looking to win the Final Four tournament on its home court after a semifinal loss in 2001 and a title game loss to Southern Maine in 1991.

The loss for 2008 conference tournament champion Eastern (25-3) ends a program-record 16-game winning streak. The streak began after the Warriors were beaten by Southern Maine, 72-64 in overtime Jan. 10 at Gorham, ME.

Coming off its worst conference regular season ever (9-5), Southern Maine knocked off sixth-seeded Rhode Island College, 61-49, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, then erased an 11-point deficit with 11 minutes left to eliminate No. 2 seed Western Connecticut State University, 56-51, in Friday’s second semifnal game. Eastern had topped No. 8 seed UMass Dartmouth, 60-40, in Tuesday’s quarterfinals, then defeated No. 4 seed Keene State College, 61-56, Friday night to advance to its 13th final.

“This team has really believed in itself,” noted first-year head coach Mike McDevitt afterward.. “We came in (to the final) so loose. We had absolutely nothing to lose. Eastern was playing at home, had won 16 in a row, was 25-2. We really felt that the pressure was all on them. We just said, hey, let’s just go out, play hard, and have fun. Eastern had to deal with the pressure of being the No. 1 seed.”

The meeting was the 13th between Southern Maine and Eastern in the final, with the Huskies winning ten times. Eastern was attempting to become the first team other than Southern Maine to win consecutive LEC tournament titles.

Although Southern Maine led by as many as nine points late in the first half, there were seven lead changes and six ties.

Sophomore forward Amanda Pierlioni (Plainville, Conn.) came off the bench to score five points on two field goals to help cut an eight-point Eastern deficit to three with six minutes left, and a pair of free throws by senior forward Ashley McFetridge (Canton, Conn.) three minutes later gave the Warriors their first lead since the opening minute of the second half, 57-56, with three minutes left.

An off-balance baseline shot by Eastern senior guard Nicky Morey (Columbia, Conn.) gave Eastern a three-point, 59-56 lead before the visitors scored the final eight points to post its 55th win over Eastern in 68 meetings since 1986-87. Paradis hit a corner three-pointer with two minutes left to tie the game for the final time, and tournament Most Outstanding Player DeMillo followed by grabbing a missed shot by Eastern and following with what proved to be the game-winning three-pointer with 66 seconds left that gave the Huskies a 62-59 lead.

In three tournament wins, Southern Maine shot 74.3 percent from the foul line. It sank 40 of 51 tries from the stripe in its two weekend wins, including 16 of 18 in the final. The conference leader in three-point field goal percentage, USM canned 10 of 25 from behind the arc in the tournament, including eight of 18 against Eastern. The Warriors are ranked first in the conference in three-point field goal percentage defense.

In the two Final Four victories, DeMillo had five three-point field goals and totaled 20 points and seven rebounds and had only six turnovers in 65 minutes. In USM’s overtime win over Eastern in January, DeMillo scored all 17 of her points after the break and converted two four-point plays – the second coming in overtime and giving her team the lead for good. Paradis sent that game into overtime with a field goal as time expired in regulation.. USM was 26-for-30 from the foul line in that game.

Despite playing the final 14 minutes of the game with four personal fouls, senior forward Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H.) led USM with 15 points in the final, with DeMillo scoring 14 (11 in the second half), 12 of the points coming on four three-pointers. Sophomore forward Kristi Violette (Readfield, Maine), who scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Huskies back against Western Connecticut Friday night, added 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Paradis’ game-tying three-pointer was the only “three” that she converted in the game. A 56.9 percent free-throw shooter during the season, Violette was 6-for-6 from the stripe in the game and 16-for-17 on the weekend. Junior forward Ruthie Briggs (Springvale, Maine) was also perfect in the final at the free throw line, coming off the bench to connected on all five of her tries.

Eastern senior forward Kate Brunet (Bristol, Conn.) led Eastern with 15 points, with McFetridge adding ten points and ten rebounds and Morey finishing with ten points and seven rebounds.
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