GORHAM, Maine    –  Sophomore Dakota Shipley (Bath, Maine/Brunswick) had a monster double-double with 17 points,16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots to lead the top-seed and nationally-ranked University Southern Maine Huskies to an 80-57 win over fifth-seed UMass Dartmouth Corsairs in the semifinal round of the 2026 Little East Conference Women's Basketball Championship Tournament Friday night at Hill Gymnasium.
 
With the win Southern Maine will host the 2026 LEC Championship game on Sunday, March 1 (1:00 pm) at Hill Gymnasium.
 
Shipley was one of four Huskies in double-figures, and had a double-double in the first half with 11 points and 11 boards to buoy Southern Maine through a slow shooting start in the first half.  Sophomore Lucy Wiles (Glenburn, Maine/Hampden Academy) had 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting, while senior Jaycie Christopher (Skowhegan, Maine) had 20 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks.  Graduate student Liz Cote (Conway, NH/Kennett) added 12 points and three assists going 4-for-8 from three.
 
Kaila Pruitt led the Corsairs with 14 points off of the bench, adding two rebounds and a blocked shot. Yasmine Santos had 13 points, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot, while Melanie Demeo added 11 points.  Amanda Ebenezer scored eight points off of the bench on 4-for-6 shooting. 
 
The Records:
5: UMass Dartmouth (11-16)
1: No. 25 Southern Maine (24-2)
 
Today's game marked the 92nd meeting between the Huskies and Corsairs.  Southern Maine leads the overall series 70-22. Southern Maine defeated UMass Dartmouth in the regular season earning an 81-54 win at home and a 75-60 win on the road.  The Huskies have won four of the last five contests against the Corsairs.  Prior to USM's 74-68 win during the 2024-2025 season, the Corsairs had won 14 consecutively over the Huskies.
 
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• After a cold start from both sides with neither the Huskies or Corsairs finding the bottom of the next for the first three-plus minutes of the contest, Shipley canned a three at the 6:47 mark to start an 8-0 run for Southern Maine capped by another Shipley three at 3:45.  However, the Corsairs, 0-for-8 from the field through the first 6:30 of the contest, got an bucket in the paint from Santos at 3:19 and closed the first quarter on a 14-4 run to lead 13-12 heading into the second.   Pruitt hit a pair of three in the run for UMass Dartmouth. Shipley scored eight of the Huskies' 12 first-quarter points.

 

• UMD continued its offensive push to start the second, on back-to-back buckets from Carly McDonald and Santos to take its largest lead of the game 17-12 with 7:48 until halftime.  The Huskies 0-4 to start the second called a timeout and got two free throws from senior Avah Ingall (Hampstead, NH/Pinkerton Academy) to break the ice and was followed by a spin-move in the paint for a short jumper from Wiles to make it 17-16 UMD with 5:47 on the clock.

 

• Both sides traded baskets over the next few possessions, and USM's Cote banged in a three at the 3:30 mark to tie the game up at 21. After another two minutes with neither side scoring and combining to go 0-for-5, Wiles put USM ahead 23-21 making a layup from a steal and an assist from Shippley at the 1:20 mark.  Demeo responded for the Corsairs making a three at the 1:06 mark for a 24-23 lead.  Both sides had an empty possession before Ingalls snagged defensive board to give USM one last look before half. With time winding down, Christopher drove to her left and passed back to Shipley for a deep three and a 26-24 Husky lead at the halftime break.

 

• Riding last second momentum to start the third, Southern Maine opened the quarter outscoring UMass Dartmouth 18-7 in the first five minutes to lead 44-31 with 5:32 on the clock.  Wiles scored nine of her 21 in the pivotal run, while Christopher had five and Shipley four.

 

• UMD responded with six unanswered points, including layups from Pruitt and Ebenezer to trail by seven 44-37 with 4:15 to go, but the Huskies closed out the third outscoring the Corsairs 14-4 to head into the fourth quarter up 58-41.  Southern Maine shot 70 percent (14-for-20) in the third, and outscored UMD 32-17.  Wiles had 13 third-quarter points.

 

• Cote and Christopher went back-to-back for threes to start the fourth quarter putting Southern Maine up by 23, 64-41, with 8:10 remaining. The Corsairs used a 5-1 spurt to pull to within 16 with 4:44 to play, but the Huskies slammed the door with a 13-4 run to close out the game. 

 
Inside The Statistics:

• Southern Maine finished the game shooting 50.8 percent (30-for-59) from the field, and 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from three-point range.  The Huskies bounced back from a tough shooting start making just 8-of-26 from the field in the first two quarters combined. UMD shot 38.9 percent (21-for-54) for the game. 
• Southern Maine outscored UMass Dartmouth 32-18 in the paint, and 13-9 on second-chance points.  Led by Shipley's 16 rebounds (four offensive), the Huskies outrebounded UMD 35-26.
• UMass Dartmouth's bench scored 26 points led by 14 points from Kaila Pruitt. Pruitt was 5-for-8 from the field (4-for-6) from three.

 
Up Next:
Southern Maine will host the 2026 Little East Conference Women's Basketball Championship on Sunday, March 1 (1:00 pm) at Hill Gym. The Huskies will host second-seed Rhode Island College Anchormen. RIC advanced to the championship game with a 73-54 win over Keene State.