GORHAM, Maine – Senior
Jaycie Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead a balanced scoring effort as the no. 25 nationally-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies rolled to an 82-26 win over the Plymouth State University Panthers in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Wednesday night at Hill Gymnasium.
Christopher was one of 13 Huskies who scored in the game as Southern Maine ran out to a dominant 40-9 lead at the half. Christopher was 8-for-10 from the field in 22 minutes of action, adding three assists. None of the Husky starters played more than 22 minutes in the game. Senior
Avah Ingalls (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy) had eight points and five rebounds (17 minutes), while sophomore
Lucy Wiles (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) had seven points, three rebounds and three assists (19 minutes). Sophomore
Dakota Shipley (Bath, Maine/Brunswick) had eight rebounds, two assists, a blocked shot and three points in 20 minutes. Sophomore
Ali Portas (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) had seven points off of the bench, while freshman
Lexi Morin (Brunswick, Maine) matched her career-high with eight points, adding three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
Kaley Goodhardt led the Panthers with eight points off of the bench on 3-for-4 shooting. Hailey Malozzi had seven points and a team-high five rebounds. Kayley Merrifield and Avery Geaumont each had five points for Plymouth State.
The Records:
Plymouth State (10-12, 3-10 Little East)
No. 24/25 Southern Maine (21-2, 13-1 Little East)
Today's game marked the 105th meeting between the Plymouth State University Panthers and the University of Southern Maine Huskies. Southern Maine leads the overall series 97-8 and has won the last 17 consecutively over the Panthers.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Southern Maine led wire-to-wire in the game scoring the first 11 points of the contest. Wiles got the Huskies started with the first four points of the game while Christopher followed with five of her own. Ingalls' layup on a feed from Shipley made it 11-0 with six left in the first. Southern Maine led 26-5 at the end of the quarter, holding PSU to 2-for-12 shooting.
- Southern Maine's defense continued to lead the way in the second limiting the Panthers to just one field goal on 1-for-12 shooting. The Huskies outscored the Panther 14-4 in the second quarter led by five points from senior Julia Kratzer (Gorham, Maine).
- Southern Maine continued to roll in the third quarter outscoring the Panthers 24-4 to lead 64-13 heading into the fourth quarter. Graduate student Liz Cote (Conway, NH/Kennett) had all six of her points in the third, while Portas scored five of her seven, including an and-one play to give USM a 54-11 lead with 4:41 to go in the quarter. Defensively, USM held PSU to 2-for-12 shooting.
- Down by 51 to start the fourth, the Panthers cut into the Husky lead outscoring USM 16-5 in the first 4:30 of the quarter. Goodhart went on a 8-0 run by herself for PSU sinking two threes and a layup consecutively. However, after PSU's Avery Geaumont hit a three to make it 69-29 with 5:39 left in regulation, the Huskies closed out the game up 13-7 in scoring for the 82-36 final. Morin scored four of her eight in the run, while junior Hope Elias (Conway, NH/Kennett) and freshman Baleria Yugu (Porltand, Maine) each hit a three.
Inside The Statistics:
- Southern Maine finished the game shooting 45.3 percent (29-for-64) from the field and 32.4 percent (11-for-34) from three-point range. Plymouth State shot 26.9 percent (14-for-52) from the floor, shooting over 50 percent in the fourth quarter.
- Southern Maine outscored PSU 24-12 in the paint and 30-7 on second chance points. The Huskies led 48-30 in rebounding, snagging 16 offensive boards.
- USM forced the Panthers into 21 turnovers and scored 22 points off of PSU miscues. Southern Maine made just nine turnovers in the game.
Up Next:
The Huskies return to the road and travel to UMass Darmouth (1:00 pm) on Saturday, February 14. Southern Maine is back at Hill Gym on Saturday, February 21 (1:00 pm) hosting VTSU-Castleton in Little East action.
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