Junior center Jess Fuller had her second straight double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds, and senior guard Natty Fripp hit two clutch foul shots with 45 seconds left as Hofstra pulled out a 60-56 win over Maine on Tuesday evening at the Mack Sports Complex.

Fuller, who added five blocks and four steals in the contest, either tied or established a new career-high in four separate categories.  Her points and steals totals were new career-highs, while her rebounds and blocked shots totals tied career-highs.

After Amanda Tewksbury put Maine ahead 56-55 with a three-pointer with 1:26 left, the Black Bears earned a stop, but Fripp picked up a key steal and was fouled with 45 seconds on the clock. She knocked down both foul shots to give the Pride a 57-56 lead, and Fuller then picked up a steal on the next possession and hit two foul shots to stretch the lead to 59-56.

Junior guard Sam Brigham finished with 13 points and five assists for the Pride, which improves to 4-3 on the season with their third straight win.  It was also Hofstra's fourth win in its last five games after starting the season 0-2.  Maine falls to 2-6 this season after losing for the fourth time in their last five games.  In addition, Hofstra picks up its first-ever win over Maine in 18 tries.

Led by eight first half points from Tanna Ross, Maine would jump out to a 17-10 advantage 8:06 into the opening half.  The Pride would gradually chip away at the deficit, though, and an 18-7 Hofstra run would eventually put the home squad in front 28-24 following an old-fashioned three-point play from Brigham at the 3:07 mark.  Fuller, who tallied team-bests of nine points and seven rebounds in the first half, led the run with five points.  The Black Bears would go back in front as Colleen Kilmurray had four points during a 6-0 run, but Hofstra got a three-pointer from sophomore guard Candice Bellocchio and a layup from Fripp in the final minute to take a 33-30 advantage into the intermission.

Hofstra would come out of the halftime break on fire as they scored the first six points of the stanza to open their largest lead of the contest, 39-30, after a layup from freshman forward Joelle Connelly with 17:52 remaining in regulation. 

As the half progressed Hofstra would push its lead to 43-34 as a Fuller layup gave Hofstra the nine-point lead with 13:58 to play.  Maine would rally at that point, though, as the Black Bears scored the next 11 points of the contest, including four points apiece from Tewsbury and Samantha Baranowski, to take a 45-43 lead at the 10:28 mark. 

Trailing for the first time since late in the first half a jumper from the elbow from Fripp would knot the score at 45 before Hofstra regained the advantage courtesy of a pair of free throws from Brigham with 8:37 to play.  After a steal from freshman guard Nicole Capurso, Brigham would score an easy fastbreak layup off the quality defense to put the Pride up four before Capurso gave Hofstra a six-point lead (51-45) with two free throws at the 6:29 mark.

The second half would continue to be a half of runs as the former conference rivals of the Pride scored six straight over a 1:36 span to even the contest at 51.

It would stay that way until a Fuller free throw put Hofstra up 52-51 with 2:27 to play.  After Maine regained the lead using a Brittany Boser basket, Fuller came up big again as she converted a three-point play to give Hofstra a slight 55-53 advantage with 100 seconds left on the clock.

Not to be outdone, Tewksbury, who had been huge all game for Maine drained a three-pointer from right in front of her bench to put the back and forth contest back in Maine's favor at 56-55 with 1:26 to play.  In all, the run that put the visitors back in front would be a 22-12 variety, but Fripp would follow two possessions later to allow the Pride to escape with the victory.

Fripp finished with nine points, five rebounds and three assists for Hofstra, while the Pride held Maine to 34.6% (18-52) shooting in the contest and forced 22 turnovers.

Hofstra is next in action on Friday, December 19 when they return from a break for finals to take on Rice at 7 p.m.  The game will take place at the Mack Sports Complex and for ticket information please call 516-HOF-TIXX.

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