Box Score NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Senior guard Haley Jordan (Falmouth, Maine) scored a game and season-high 24 points to lead the 13th-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies to an 82-61 win over the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at the Tripp Athletic Center in North Dartmouth, Mass.
Four Southern Maine players reached double digits in scoring as the Huskies rolled to their 15th consecutive win to stand at 15-0 on the season and 5-0 in the Little East Conference. With the loss, UMass Dartmouth falls to 11-3 overall and 3-2 in the LEC.
Jordan was 9-for-17 from the field and 2-for-3 from three-point range to lead all scorers. She added five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Senior guard Nicole Garland (Portland, Maine/Deering) finished with 23 points on an outstanding 8-for-12 effort including a season-high six three-pointers. Sophomore forward Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine/McAuley) and senior forward Jordan Grant (Concord, N.H.) each had a double-double. Knight had 18 points and Grant added 10 while both forwards grabbed 13 rebounds to lead USM to a pivotal 50-35 advantage on the glass.
Senior forward Colleen Moriarty (Canton, Mass.) posted her third double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Corsairs. Sophomore guard Kelsey Garrity (Somerville, Mass.) added 11 points, five rebounds and a game-high six assists.
After giving up the first three points of the game to the Corsairs, the Huskies hit back-to-back three-pointers from Garland and Grant to assume the lead and never trailed again. The Corsairs kept the game close in the opening eight minutes of the game, however, trailing USM by a single point, 8-7 with 13:30 to play on a jumper from sophomore guard Erin Fahey (Salem, Mass./St. Mary's), but Southern Maine used a 14-4 run over the next six and half minutes to take a 25-11 lead. Jordan scored 11 of her 24 points in the pivotal run as USM led comfortably 37-23 at the half.
In the second half, UMass Dartmouth outscored the Huskies 7-4 in the opening three minutes to make it a three possession game, 41-32, on baskets from Moriarity (2), Garrity and a three from freshman guard Colleen Kane (Arlington, Mass.) with 17:13 on the clock, but the Huskies again answered the Corsairs' challenge with a 13-5 run to grab its largest lead of the game, 54-37, with 14:01 to play. Jordan, Knight and Garland each scored in the run for USM, led by a pair of threes from Garland.
UMass Dartmouth never got any closer than 14 points the rest of the game and USM led by as many as 22 points late in the game to roll to the 82-61 win. Southern Maine finished the game shooting 43.5 percent (30-for-69) from the field and 47.6 percent (10-for-21) from three-point range. The Corsairs were held to 37.5 percent (24-for-64) shooting.
Southern Maine hosts UMass Boston on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) in a Little East Conference game. UMass Dartmouth hosts Rhode Island College on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.) in conference action.
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