STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (3-1) defeated University of Southern Maine (3-2), 67-62, in overtime in the Monks' 2011-12 home-opener on Sunday night. Senior forward Allie Parent (Camden, Maine) made 10 of 13 free throw attempts and netted a team-high 16 points in the thrilling victory.

With the win, St. Joe's claims the Costello Cup – named in honor of the late "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and longtime basketball coach – for the first time since the 1994-95 campaign and ceases a 13-game losing streak at the hands of the Huskies. The Cup is awarded annually to the winner of this rivalry matchup.

Trailing by five, 7-2, after USM junior Haley Jordan (Falmouth, Maine) made a layup 4:35 into play, the Monks rattled off 10 unanswered points and led 11-7 when Parent capped the surge with a fast break layup of her own at the 13:07 mark.

The Huskies answered with buckets from Courtney Cochran '12 (Waite, Maine) and Stephanie Gallagher '15 (York, Maine) over the following two minutes to tie the game at 11-apiece, but the hosts managed to post an impressive 12-0 run, closed out by a Megan McDevitt '12 (Cumberland, Maine) three-pointer at the 6:32 mark, to gain the biggest lead attained by either team.

Southern Maine went 0-8 from the field with a pair of turnovers while the Monks built the 23-11 cushion and Saint Joseph's went on to hold a lead until the closing minutes of regulation.

The Monks led 28-23 at intermission and shot 33.3% from the floor, 11.1% from three-point land, and 77.8% from the free throw line in the opening stanza. The Huskies shot 30.8% overall, 28.6% from downtown, and 62.5% from the charity stripe in the first half.

SJC senior center Ashley Geel (St. George, Maine) led all scorers with 10 first-half points while Jordan grabbed a half-high eight caroms in the opening frame for the Huskies.

The Monks' cushion quickly diminished as the hosts were called for seven fouls in the first 3:30 of the second stanza, a span during which the Huskies went 4-6 from the FT line and cut the SJC lead to 30-29 when Jordan made a freebie at the 16:31 mark.

Saint Joseph's was able to weather the storm, however, and regained a fairly comfortable advantage with the help of four points from Danyelle Shufelt '13 (Sutton, Vt.) during a 6-0 outbreak in the next two minutes.

Leading by six, 40-34, after Lindsay Moore '14 (Somersworth, N.H.) scored a layup off a McDevitt feed, the Monks saw their advantage dwindle when Nicole Garland '12 (Portland, Maine/Deering) drained a three with 11:28 remaining and Kim Rivet '12 (Bridgton, Maine) converted a free throw to make it a 40-38 contest with 10:50 on the game clock.

Undaunted, the hosts made four freebies in the following minute, two apiece from Parent and Mackenzie Dufour '14 (Augusta, Maine), to secure a 44-38 lead. Layups from Cochran and Garland cut the Monks' cushion back down to two points, but freshman Nicolette Kapothanasis (Westbrook, Maine/Portland) drilled a three-pointer to provide her team with a 49-44 advantage. Kapothanasis, 0-5 from downtown before making the important trifecta, showed the salt of a veteran player with the make from three-point land.

But the lead would not last, as Garland hit a three of her own on the very next USM possession and neither team would secure an advantage of more than three points over the final six minutes of regulation.

With 2:57 left, Cochran hit a free throw to make it a 51-50 game and made a layup 53 seconds later to lift the Huskies to their first lead since the opening minutes of the first period. Parent went on to knot the contest with a free throw at the 1:50 mark before Stephanie Gallagher '15 (York, Maine) hit a jumper in the paint with 22 seconds remaining to put the visitors up by two. Parent answered with a layup and was fouled as time expired, but her freebie attempt was off the mark as the game was headed for extra play.

The rivals opened the overtime frame with countering buckets from Cochran and McDevitt, but the Monks secured the final lead of the game when Shufelt made one of two free throw attempts with 3:30 left. St. Joe's shot 3-4 from the field and 7-12 from the charity stripe in the OT period, while Southern Maine was 3-8 from the floor and made it to the FT line four times, with a pair of conversions, in the deciding frame.

For St. Joe's, McDevitt fell one rebound shy of posting her first career double-double with 10 points and nine caroms, Dufour tallied nine points and five assists, Moore posted nine points and five caroms, and Shufelt added seven points. Kapothanasis chipped in with six points on the night and Geel, in foul trouble early in the second half, finished the game with her first-half line: 10 points and six boards. The 6'1 center logged little time in the latter stanza and fouled out with 5:56 left in the contest.

For Southern Maine, Cochran netted a game-high 23 points with nine boards, Garland was 3-4 from downtown and tallied 16 points, and Jordan notched a double-double with 13 points and 11 caroms.

Saint Joseph's shot 37% (20-54) from the floor, 13.3% (2-15) from three-point range, and 65.8% (25-38) from the free throw line. USM countered by shooting 32.8% (20-61) overall, 25% (4-16) from downtown, and 64.3% (18-28) from the FT line.

Both teams grabbed 39 rebounds on the night while the Monks held a 14-9 advantage in assists in the overtime triumph.

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 7-35 in the history of the series with Southern Maine and collects the Costello Cup for just the fourth time in the 21-year history of the Cup series.

Saint Joseph's will host Thomas College on Wednesday at 5:30 PM, while USM plays host to Bowdoin College on Tuesday at 5:30 PM.