21 Little East Conference Championships
Slow Second Quarter Dooms Southern Maine in 65-62 Loss to Husson
Southern Me.
Husson (9-6) 15 20 14 16 65
Southern Me. (9-4) 20 7 17 18 62
Eells had a season-high 11 rebounds
Pts: Kenzie Worcester - 26
Reb: Megan Peach - 15
Ast: Vanessa Duarte - 3
Pts: Jackie Luckhardt - 14
Reb: Chantel Eells - 11
Ast: Kristina Blais - 5
GORHAM, Maine – Senior Kenzie Worcester (Washburn, Maine) scored a game-high 26 points, including a 10-for-11 mark from the free throw line, to lead the Husson University Eagles to a 65-62 win over the University of Southern Maine Huskies in a non-conference women's basketball game Monday night at Hill Gymnasium.
With back-to-back wins, Husson improves to 9-6 on the season. The Huskies take their second consecutive loss to drop to 9-4 overall.
Worcester was the only Eagle in double-digits making 6-of-11 from the field (4-of-6 from three). She added five rebounds, three steals and two assists. Sophomore Megan Peach (Garland, Maine/Dexter Regional) had nine points and a game-leading 15 rebounds, including six offensive boards. Peach also had a pair of blocked shots. Freshman Sydney Allen (Corinth, Maine/Central) added eight points, while junior Nicole Tapparo (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet) chipped in with 7.
Junior Jackie Luckhardt (Londonderry, N.H.) led three Huskies in double figures with 14 points, adding four rebounds, six steals and three assists. Senior Kimberly Howrigan (Fairfield, Vermont/Bellows Free Academy) had 13 points and six rebounds, while senior Alexa Srolovitz (Montreal, Quebec/North Hampton School (NH)) added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Chantel Eells (Turner, Maine/Leavitt) had a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with seven points, three steals, and two blocked shots. Freshman Victoria Harris (Altus, Okla./Lewiston) had nine points, six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Southern Maine led 20-15 after the first quarter, shooting 47.1 percent (8-for-17) from the field. USM was led by six from Srolovitz, and four each from Luckhardt, Howrigan and Harris in the first. However, the Huskies went ice cold in the second quarter, making just three field goals as the Eagles outscored USM 20-7 to take a 35-27 lead into the halftime break. Worcester had eight of the Eagles' 20 points in the second.
USM bounced back in the third and trailed by four, 44-40, with 2:05 left in the quarter after a jumper from Srolovitz and a free throw from Harris, but Worcester hit a three and sank two free throws for a five point swing and a 49-40 lead with 44 seconds to play. The Huskies scored twice in the final seconds, a jumper from Luckhardt and a layup from freshman Michelle Rowe (Gorham, Maine) to trail by five, 49-45, before the buzzer sounded.
Husson opened the fourth outscoring USM 8-4 on threes from Allen and Worcester and a jumper from Tapparo to lead 57-48 with 5:36 to play. The Huskies again cut their deficit to four, 57-53, with 2:13 to play, but the Eagles responded with a 5-1 run to lead 62-54 with 55 seconds to play. Down, the Huskies continued to rally and pulled to within a point, 63-62, after a three from Srolovitz capped a 6-1 run, but Worcester was able to win the game at the line with a pair of free throws with two seconds to play for the 65-62 final.
Southern Maine hits the road again on Wednesday (5:30 p.m.) and faces off against Little East Conference opponent UMass Boston.
-cac -