NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Sophomore
Lucy Wiles (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) scored a career-high 32 points to lead the no. 25 nationally-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 75-60 win over the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Tripp Athletic Center.
Wiles was 14-of-20 from the field, making 4-of-7 from three, for the game-high total. The Huskies' sophomore guard added five rebounds, two assists and a steal. Senior
Jaycie Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) added 23 points and five rebounds on 8-for-13 shooting. Sophomore
Dakota Shipley (Bath, Maine/Brunswick) had seven points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot.
Melanie DeMeo led the Corsairs with 18 points. Amanda Ebenezer had a double-double off of the bench with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Records:
No. 25 Southern Maine (22-2, 14-1 Little East)
UMass Dartmouth (9-14, 6-8 Little East)
Today's game marked the 92nd meeting between the Huskies and Corsairs. Southern Maine leads the overall series 69-22. Southern Maine earned an 81-54 win over UMass Dartmouth earlier this season and have won three of the last four contests with the Corsairs. Prior to USM's 74-68 win last season, the Corsairs had won 14 consecutively over Southern Maine.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Ahead by a point, 11-10, after UMD's Ebenezer snagged an offensive board and hit a jumper, Southern Maine closed out the first quarter on a 7-0 run to lead 18-10 heading into the second. Wiles scored five straight for the Huskies on a jumper and a three-pointer, while Christopher hit a layup as time expired.
- The Huskies run extended into the second quarter (13-0) as USM scored the first six points on back-to-back jumpers from Wiles and a layup from graduate student Liz Cote (Conway, NH/Kennett) for a 24-10 lead with 8:09 to play. After the 6-0 start both teams went back and forth in the frame. DeMeo had six of her 18 points for UMass Dartmouth in the second, but the Huskies held a comfortable 34-19 lead at the halftime break.
- Shooting 73.3 percent (11-for-15) in the third quarter, Southern Maine outscored UMass Dartmouth 28-19, snagging its largest lead of the game 58-27 (31 points) at the 3:40 mark. The Huskies outscored the Corsairs 24-8 in the opening 6:20 of the quarter led by 11 points from Christopher, seven from Shipley and six from Wiles. Christopher's three at the 3:40 mark off of a feed from Wiles had the Huskies up by their biggest margin. The Corsairs outscored USM 11-4 in the final minutes of the third, led by six points from Ebenezer, but headed into the fourth down 62-38.
- Wiles' three at the 3:50 mark of the fourth had the Huskies ahead by 24, 71-47, shutting the door on the game. The Corsairs rallied for a 13-4 run to close the game but it was too little for the 71-49 final.
Inside The Statistics:
- Southern Maine finished the game shooting 46.9 percent (30-for-64) from the field. UMass Dartmouth shot 35.1 percent (20-for-57). Both teams shot below their season average from three-point range.
- The Huskies scored 20 points off of UMD's 17 turnovers in the game. Conversely, USM committed just 11 turnovers and the Corsairs scored seven.
- The Huskies 22 wins are the most for the program since a 20-8 season in 2013-2014.
Up Next:
Southern Maine is back at Hill Gym on Saturday, February 21 (1:00 pm) hosting VTSU-Castleton in Little East action in its regular-season finale. The Huskies will honor their senior student-athletes prior ot the game.
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