BANGOR – After nursing a sprained ankle for five weeks, Husson’s Tara Leavitt wasn’t supposed to play more than a few minutes.

But Leavitt’s 10 points in five minutes and 54 seconds of the second half boosted the Braves to a 73-55 women’s basketball victory against St. Joseph’s College of Standish at Newman Gymnasium Wednesday night.

“I didn’t even think about my shots in the second half,” the senior from Hampden said. “At the beginning, I was missing them and so I started thinking about them. I started making them because I wasn’t even thinking about them.”

After a 0-for-4 start, the 6-foot forward went 7-for-8 from the field and 4-for-4 at the line to collect her game-high 18 points, despite limited floor time.

“I’ve only been back for two games,” Leavitt said. “My ankle’s really tired now. I thought coach [Kissy Walker] was going to take me out after a couple of minutes.”

Dragging an 0-2 record against the Braves this season, St. Joseph’s kept things interesting in the first half with the 3-point shooting of senior Kim Buotte, who popped in a trio beyond the arc and an eight-footer in a 5:55 span to complete her scoring at 11 points. Kristen Chavarie hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining and the Monks took a 28-27 halftime lead.

The Braves shooting touch didn’t help matters much as they went into the locker room with an 11-for-37 effort from the field, despite a 4-for-7 performance from Amanda Pomerleau, who lead the team with 11 points at the half. She finished with 14.

“I thought St. Joseph’s sagging with their zone defense prevented us from getting more than one shot and we didn’t shoot well against it,” Husson’s Walker said. “In the first half, we were looking to take one or two passes and then shoot.

“That’s OK if you’re making the shots, but we weren’t making them,” Walker said.

Fueled by Leavitt’s scoring from the frontcourt, the Braves managed to move out to a 40-37 lead with 14:04 remaining.

Senior Kendra Marquis kept St. Joseph’s close with eight second-half points before fouling out with 7:15 remaining with the Monks trailing 48-43. Marquis collected 16 points and six rebounds.

From there, the floodgates opened as the Braves burst out on an 18-4 run in nearly five minutes, racking up a 66-48 lead with 2:17 remaining.

“When Kendra Marquis fouled out, we lost our ability to change defenses,” Monks coach Mike McDevitt said. “They did a good job at halftimMonks coach Mike McDevitt said. “They did a good job at halftime of making the adjustments and getting the ball inside.

“They were taking the outside shot in the first half and then they got away from it in the second half,” McDevitt said.

St. Joseph’s got very little help from their starters who collected just 18 points, outside of Marquis’ 16 points, compared to Husson’s 37 points, excluding Leavitt’s total.

Pomerleau and Sue Anne Allen each added 14 points for the Braves, who are now 10-1 in the Maine Athletic Conference. The Monks are 3-5 in the MAC.

Shannon Field led the Monks rebounders with 12, and added six points.

Braves 73, Monks 55

St. Joseph’s (12-12) Husson women (18-7)

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

Chavarie 2 7 3 4 8 Cram 2 2 1 1 6

Buotte 4 9 0 0 11 Lumbert 0 0 0 0 0

Gibson 2 5 4 7 8 Russ 0 0 0 0 0

Pearson 1 2 0 0 2 Moholland 4 13 1 2 9

Sandora 0 3 1 2 1 Allen 6 15 2 2 14

Marquis 8 12 0 0 16 Grant 0 4 0 0 0

Sparrow 0 2 0 0 0 Palmer 1 1 0 0 2

Glantz 0 2 1 2 1 Leavitt 7 12 4 4 18

Field 3 6 0 0 6 Pomerleau 5 11 0 0 14

Forand 1 4 0 0 2 Walker 3 6 2 4 8

Emerson 0 2 0 0 0

Miller 1 6 0 0 2

Totals 21 52 9 15 55 Totals 29 72 10 13 73

St. Joseph’s 28 55

Husson 27 73

3-pt. goals: St. Joseph’s (4-11): Chavarie 1-5, Buotte 3-5, Pearson 0-1; Husson (5-6): Cram 1-1, Allen 0-1, Pomerleau (4-4)