Box Score GORHAM, Maine – Senior Mariah Callender (Portland, Maine) scored a game-high 12 points and junior Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine/McAuley) added 11 points, a game-high nine rebounds and four assists as the University of Southern Maine Huskies defeated the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors 56-38 in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.
With its fourth consecutive win, Southern Maine improves to 18-7 overall and 10-4 in the Little East Conference. Eastern Connecticut falls to 17-8 on the season and 9-5 in the LEC. Southern Maine secured the number two seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament and will host seventh seeded UMass Boston on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) at Hill Gymnasium. Eastern Connecticut earns the third seed and will host sixth seed Keene State on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.).
Callender led all scorers with an efficient 5-for-7 effort from the field, including a 1-for-1 mark from three-point range. She added two blocked shots and a steal. Knight was 3-for-7 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free throw line for her 11 points. Senior Hannah Fenwick (Topsham, Maine/Mt. Ararat) added eight points, five rebounds, three blocked shots and two assists, while senior Erin McNamara (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional) and sophomores Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Acquinas) and Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine/Messalonskee) each had seven points.
Junior Shannon McCourt (New Fairfield, Conn.) and freshmen Julia DePoi (Brookfield, Conn.) and Jordyn Nappi (Southington, Conn./Mercy) each scored six points to lead the Warriors. Sophomore Jill Ritrosky (Pittsfield, Mass.) led the Warriors in rebounding with seven.
Leading the Warriors 11-8 with 13:30 to play, USM used a 8-0 run to extend its lead to 11 points midway through the opening half. After a layup from Ritrosky put Eastern Connecticut within a possession of the Huskies, Southern Maine's Pelletier hit one of two free throws and was followed by a step-back three from McNamara. McNamara then came up with a steal and an assist to Pelletier for a 17-8 USM lead before Fenwick capped the run with an offensive rebound and the put-back for the 19-8 lead with 8:34 to play in the half.
The Warriors battled to close out the half and trailed by eight, 25-17, on a layup from sophomore Erin Brooks (Billerica, Mass./Billerica Memorial) with 1:28 to play, but Callender finished a Knight assist and Knight hit one of two free throws to close out the half with the Huskies ahead 28-17.
The Warriors scored the first basket of the second half on a Nappi jumper to trail 28-19, but USM responded with an 11-2 run to grab its largest lead of the game, 39-21, with 15:09 to play. Callender scored seven of her 12 points in the run on a three and a pair of layups, while Fenwick and Knight each scored in the paint.
A three from DePoi pulled the Warriors to within 15, 41-26, with 12:41 to play, but Southern Maine quieted any thoughts of a Eastern Connecticut rally with an 11-4 spurt over the next seven minutes to grab a 52-30 lead with 5:19 to play. Four different players scored for the Huskies in the run, capped by a three from Anderson. The Huskies led by as many as 23, 56-33, after a layup from Knight at the 1:31 mark, before the Warriors closed the game on a 5-0 run for the 56-38 final.
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