The Women’s Basketball team traveled to Southern Maine looking for an upset in a conference matchup Tuesday evening, but came up short in the second half, losing by just nine points.
The Panthers were on fire from downtown in the first half, with 15 of their 26 points coming from three-pointers. Sophomore Ace Lawrence (Middletown, CT) accounted for nearly half of Plymouth’s points, putting 12 on the scoreboard by halftime. After hitting back-to-back three-pointers, she gave the Panthers their biggest lead of the game, at 26-19 with 1:39 led in the first half. However, Southern Maine would hold Lawrence to just two points in the second half.
Other first half buckets came from sophomore Rosalie Edmonds (Goffstown, N.H.), junior Taylor Perry (Simsbury, CT), and senior Tiffany Lewis (Hillsboro, N.H.). Long balls were contributed by both senior Kelley Collins (Groveton, N.H.) and sophomore Madison Beatrice (Newton, N.H.), bringing the Panthers to a 26-24 lead at the first buzzer.
The majority of the Huskies’ points came from juniors Ella Ramonas, Gretchen Anderson, and current LEC Player of the Week, Megan Pelletier. Accounting for a combined 18 points in the first half, the three would go on to make 42 of USM’s 52 points for the night.
Scoring was back and forth between the two teams throughout both halves, with neither team gaining any kind of dramatic lead. With 11:43 left to play, The Huskies pulled ahead with a 5-0 run for nearly two minutes, the score 36-31at the 10 minute mark. Baskets by sophomore Kayla Wyland (Melrose, MA) and Collins would bring the Panthers within one point. A free throw by Beatrice tied the game at 36 with 7:48 to go.
The game remained close, with no more than a four point lead in either direction, until Southern Maine shut Plymouth down with three minutes remaining, completing a 6-0 run, finishing the game with a score of 52-43.
“The difference between the first and second half I think was that unfortunately our shots weren’t falling like they were in the first half,” noted Kayla Wyland, who had four points, one assist, and four rebounds on the night, “also, USM’s defense changed in the second and we did not respond to it well. However, I thought our team played really well and we will learn from this loss! Hopefully we will see them again in the playoffs!”
The Panthers (6-16, 0-11 LEC) hit the road again on Saturday, as they travel to UMass Boston for another LEC game beginning at 1 p.m.