GORHAM, Maine - Junior forward Megan Myles (Auburn, Maine/Edward Little) scored a game-high 18 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player leading the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 68-29 win over the Keene State College Owls in the championship game of the 2005 Little East Conference Tournament, Saturday at Warren G. Hill Gymnasium in Gorham.

With the win, USM earns its ninth consecutive LEC tournament crown and the conference's automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament while upping its season record to 26-2. Playing in its first LEC title game, Keene State concludes it season with a record of 17-11.

The Huskies overcame an eight point first half deficit and ice-cold shooting to start the game en route to their 24th consecutive victory. Trailing the Owls, 16-8, with nine minutes to play in the first half, the Huskies were able to find their shooting touch and capture a 32-21 lead heading into the break outscoring the Owls 25-4 down the stretch. The Huskies tied the game at 16 rattling off eight unanswered points on two free throws from sophomore Katie Sibley (Boothbay, Maine/Boothbay Region) and a pair of threes from Myles and junior Katie Frost (Calais, Maine/Calais) with 5:00 to play.

After trading places with a one point lead over the next minute, the Huskies took the lead for good, at 20-19, following two Myles free throws and then outscored the Owls 12-2 to finish the half. Junior Ashley Marble (Topsfield, Maine/Woodland) scored five points in the run.

Southern Maine quickly pushed its lead to 20 points, 43-23, in the opening five minutes of the second half on a jumper from Myles, back-to-back lay-ups from junior Tiffany Jones (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan), another jumper from Myles and three free throws from Marble as the Huskies found their offensive rhythm.

The Huskies also flashed some defense, limiting the Owls to just eight points on four field goals in the second half. The Owls, who finished the game shooting an abysmal 22.2 percent from the floor (12-54), managed just two points in the first 14 minutes of the second stanza on a short jumper from sophomore Caitlin Jamiel (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East), and were 4-for-30 from the floor in the second half.

"We gave them a great game of 15 minutes then we committed some fouls and didn't make some shots and I think our offense affected our defense. Mentally we got down," said KSC Coach Keith Boucher after the game. "Being a championship caliber team they are, they sensed it. They smelled blood and turned up the screws and we didn't respond."

Despite the loss, Boucher was pleased that his team advanced to the finals for the first time. "I told the players after the game that we took another step this year and they should be proud of that. They now understand what it's like to play in this environment."

Boucher thinks his team has a chance to earn its third ECAC berth in the past four years. "They usually evaluate you on how you finish, and we won five out of our last six games," he said. "I feel confident that we will get a bid.

The ECAC pairings will be announced on Monday.

The Huskies finished the game shooting 45.5 percent from the field connecting on 20-of-44 shots and were tremendous from the free throw line knocking down 22-of-26 attempts for an 84.6 percent mark. Marble was the only other Husky to reach double figures netting 12 points to go along with her game-high eight rebounds, while Jones finished with nine points and freshman Trish Sylvain (Weare, N.H./New Hampton) added seven points off of the bench. The Owls were led by seven points from junior forward Stacey Morse (Lebanon, N.H./Lebanon).

(Coutesy of USM Sports Information)