GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine utilized a strong second half to pull away for an 80-57 victory over UMass Dartmouth in the Little East Conference Semifinals on Friday night. The top-seeded Huskies move to 24-2 on the season and will host the title game on Sunday, while the Corsairs conclude their season with an 11-16 mark.
After a slow start to the opening quarter, the homestanding Huskies jumped out to an 8-0 lead backed by a pair of three-pointers from Dakota Shipley. The Corsairs countered with just 3:19 left in the frame as guard
Yasmine Santos sparked a run that saw three-pointers from graduate student guard
Kaila Pruitt and senior guard
Cristina Negron, tying the game at 8-all with 1:54 remaining.
Southern Maine went ahead on a pair of free throws from Shipley, but UMD fired back once again as a layup from rookie guard
Amanda Ebenezer and another three from Pruitt pushed the visitors out to a 13-10 lead. The Huskies added a pair of free throws from Jaycie Christopher to send the teams into the second stanza with UMD up, 13-12.
UMass Dartmouth carried their momentum into the second quarter as jumpers from rookie guard
Carly McDonald and Santos moved the score to 17-12 at the 7:48 mark. Southern Maine continued to battle back as a three from Liz Cote tied the game at 23-all with 3:30 to play. A Lucy Wiles trey was quickly countered by a shot from beyond the arc by senior guard
Melanie DeMeo as the Corsairs regained a 24-23 advantage. USM had the final say in the frame as Shipley nailed another three-pointer to send the team's into halftime with the Huskies ahead 26-24.
The hot shooting of Shipley shined to open the third quarter, laying down back-to-back layups to put the home team up 34-26 at the 7:45 mark. Pruitt countered with a three-pointer, but consecutive buckets from Lucy Wiles, coupled with a three-pointer from Christopher pushed the margin to 42-31 with 5:23 remaining.
UMass Dartmouth worked to get back into the game, capitalizing on free throws, but solid shooting from the Huskies, including a three from Cote and layups from Wiles and Christopher sent the Corsairs into the fourth quarter trailing, 58-41.
Southern Maine opened the final frame on a 6-0 run, but Pruitt nailed a three-pointer at 7:22 to cut the advantage to 64-44. The Corsairs put together a run of their own, dropping in four straight points to close the gap to 66-48, but the Huskies continued to press down the stretch as a five-point swing following a DeMeo layup put USM up by a 76-53 score with 2:32 on the clock. A jumper from Ebenezer with 1:13 to go helped close the gap, but the home team took advantage at the line to seal the win.
Pruitt led the way for the Corsairs, dropping in 14 points, including a 4-of-6 effort from three-point range. Santos added 13 points with six rebounds, an assist and two steals, while DeMeo dropped in 11 points with two assists. Senior guard
Kasey Oliver posted a team-high eight rebounds to go along with four assists and two steals.
