CASTLETON, Vermont – Sophomore
Lucy Wiles (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) scored 19 points and four assists to lead four players in double-figures as the University of Southern Maine Huskies rolled to an 84-63 win over the VTSU-Castleton Spartans in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Glenbrook Gym.
Wiles was 8-for-17 from the field (3-for-5 from three) for the game-high total. Sophomore
Dakota Shipley (Bath, Maine/Brunswick) had 16 points, seven rebounds, and three blocked shots on 7-for-12 shooting. Seniors
Jaycie Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) and
Avah Ingalls (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy) each had 15 points. Christopher added seven rebounds and a game-high five assists, while Ingalls also had seven rebounds and four assists.
Emily Adams had a double-double for the Spartans with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebouds. Maggie McKearin added 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Stasia Epler and Schuylar Nolan each had nine points.
The Records:
Southern Maine (12-1, 5-0 Little East)
VTSU-Castleton (5-8, 1-4 Little East)
Today's meeting marks the 16
th meeting between the Huskies and the Spartans. With today's win, Southern Maine now leads the series 9-7. Southern Maine has won five consecutively over the Spartans.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Trailing 5-4 after a three from the Spartans' Schuylar, Southern Maine used a 20-1 run over the next seven minutes to led 24-6 with 1:40 to go in the first half. Wiles scored in the paint to give the Huskies the lead and ignite the run. Christopher and Wiles had seven points each in the run. The Huskies went on to lead 30-10 at the end of the first quarter as Wiles hit a layup with seconds to go.
- Both teams were even in the second quarter scoring 18 points each. The Huskies led by 28, 43-15, with 3:49 left in the frame on two free throws from Ingalls before the Spartans rallied with an 11-2 run to make it a 45-26 game with 1:26 until halftime. Isabelle Cole hit a pair of threes, while Adams hit one of her own in the run. However, USM maintained a 20-point advantage into the break as freshman Izzy Morelli (New Gloucester, Maine) scored the Huskies' final three point of the half, 48-28.
- Shipley paced the Huskies in the third quarter scoring seven of her 16 points in the opening five minutes of the quarter, including a layup off of a feed from Ingalls to lead 57-32 with 5:33 to go. Adams trimmed the Spartans' deficit to 20, 59-39, with a fastbreak layup, but USM rattled off a 12-2 run in the final 2:37 to lead by 30, 71-41, headed into the fourth. Wiles had five and Shipley had four in the run.
- Sophomore Morgan Cunningham (Augusta, Maine/Cony) kept USM in front by 30, 77-47, at the 6:55 mark before the Spartans cut into the Husky lead over the next four minutes to trail by 22, 77-55, on a layup by Adams as part of an 8-0 run. However, a bucket from senior Julia Kratzer (Gorham, Maine) and a three-pointer from junior Hope Elias (Conway, NH/Kennett) pushed the lead back to 27. From there, USM held for the 84-63 win.
Inside The Statistics:
- Southern Maine shot 63.16 percent (12-for-19) from the field in the first quarter and finished the game shooting 49.3 percent (35-for-71). VTSU-Castleton shot 37.1 percent (23-for-62).
- Southern Maine scored 20 of its points off of Spartan turnovers. The Huskies had 12 turnovers to the Spartans 18 – VTSU scored eight points off of turnovers.
- The Huskies outscored the Spartans 52-26 in the paint.
Up Next:
Southern Maine returns home to Hill Gym for back-to-back conference games hosting UMass Dartmouth on Wednesday, January 14 (2:00 pm) and Eastern Connecticut on Saturday, January 17 (1:00 pm). The Huskies are then on a three-game road trip, heading to Thomas College in non-conference action on Tuesday, January 20 (5:30 pm), and then Plymouth State and WestConn in Little East action on Wednesday, January 21 (5:30 pm) and Saturday, January 24 (1:00 pm), respectively.
-cac-
