FARMINGTON, Maine  – Four players scored in double-figures as the nationally-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies rolled to a 74-50 win over the Curry College Colonels in the first game of the 2009 UMaine Farmington Tip Off Tournament Friday night at Dearborn Gymnasium in Farmington, Maine. With the win, Southern Maine bounces back from its season-opening loss to  improve to 1-1.  Curry College drops its second game in a row to fall to 0-2.

Senior guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine) and freshman forward Curran Leighton (Londonderry, N.H.) paced the Huskies with 14 points each. Sophomore guard Renee Nicholas (Sebago, Maine/Lake Region) added 11 points, seven rebounds and seven steals, while senior forward Haley Johnson (West Simsbury, Conn./Simsbury) chipped in with a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. 

Freshman guard Hailey Rafferty (Worcester, Mass./Holy Name) led all scorers with 16 points to compliment a team-high eight rebounds.  Junior forward Danyel Cousins (Brunswick, Maine) added 14 rebounds.

The Huskies scored the first five points of the game and ran out to a commanding 21-point lead at the half, 48-27.  Southern Maine shot a solid 41.7 percent (15-for-36) from the floor in the half and forced Curry into 22 turnovers.  The Huskies scored 23 of their 48 first half points off of turnovers.  Paradis and Nicholas each had five steals in the half.

 In the second half, Curry was able to trim the USM lead to 18-points, 48-30, on a three-pointer from Rafferty with 17:41 to play but it was as close as the would get as the Huskies cruised to the win.