ALBANY, N.Y. – A 3-point play by Anna Struck with 18 seconds left gave the University of Southern Maine a 50-49 victory over Cortland (N.Y.) State College of here Friday in the first round of the NCAA Division III Eastern Sectional tournament.

Southern Maine advances to play in the round of eight Saturday against the winner of Friday night’s game between Eastern Connecticut State (Willimantic, Conn.) and host Albany State.

Allison Gagnon stole the ball from Cortland with 30 seconds left and dished off to Struck in the lane before Struck laid it up and in and drew a foul.

After Struck hit the free throw to make the score 50-49, Cortland took the ball to halfcourt and called a timeout. With five seconds to go, Leslie Presby stole the ball and preserved the win for USM.

Katariina Pulkkinen scored 14 points to lead the 26-3 USM Huskies. Gagnon scored 13 and Struck added 11.

For the 24-5 Red Dragons, Chris Arnold scored 16 points and Trish Sanford added 12.

This marks the third straight year USM has advanced to the round of eight.

Huskies 50, Red Dragons 49

Southern Maine Cortland State women

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Chessie 1 1 0 0 2 Sanford 12 6 0 0 12

Gagnon 9 5 4 3 13 Bouley 4 0 0 0 0

Struck 7 4 5 3 11 Schwartz 2 1 0 0 2

LaPierre 12 2 0 0 4 Seago 1 0 0 0 0

Struck 0 0 0 0 0 Exford 5 3 0 0 6

Williamson 0 0 0 0 0 Bush 1 1 0 0 2

Wheeler 4 0 0 0 0 Randall 6 1 2 1 3

Presby 3 2 2 2 6 Arnold 9 4 0 0 8

Pulkkinen 15 7 0 0 14 Folts 1 0 0 0 0

Arnold 13 8 0 0 1q

Totals 56 21 11 8 50 Totals 54 24 2 1 49

Southern Maine 28 50

Cortland State 30 49

3-pt. goals: Southern Maine (0-2): Pulkkinen (0-2); Cortland State (0-3): Sanford (0-2), Randall (0-1)

Lady Monks 94, Bulldogs 78

(Thursday Night)

St. Joe’s women Concordia-Nebraska

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Hartley 3 1 2 2 4 Parrott 16 8 3 2 18

Bourget 7 6 8 6 18 Metzger 7 5 4 4 14

Carter 17 13 7 6 32 Beck 11 7 3 2 16

McCarthy 16 6 0 0 17 Kindle 6 2 2 2 6

K. Hartman 8 2 0 0 5 T. Leggett 11 6 2 2 16

Stenberg 4 2 2 2 6 R. Leggett 0 0 0 0 0

C. Hartman 1 0 0 0 0 Domann 1 1 0 0 2

Joler 2 0 0 0 0 Kuhlman 1 0 0 0 0

Rogers 0 0 0 0 0 Blome 6 0 2 2 2

Bouchard 5 2 6 5 9 Farden 0 0 0 0 0

Clark 0 0 0 0 0 Kruger 0 0 0 0 0

Treadwell 5 1 0 0 3 Sponsel 2 1 2 2 4

Totals 68 33 25 21 94 Totals 61 30 18 16 78

St. Joseph’s 45 94

Concordia-Nebraska 32 78

3-pt. goals: St. Joe’s (7-17), McCarthy 5-8, K. Hartman 1-3, Treadwell 1-4, Joler 0-2; Concordia (2-7), T. Leggett 2-3, Parrott 0-2, Kindle 0-2