The win gave Southern Maine head coach Gary Fifield his 500th career victory. In his 20th season at USM, Fifield is 500-80 and is the winningest active coach in Division III women’s basketball with a .862 winning percentage. Winners of its last eight games, Southern Maine improves to 11-1 overall and remains undefeated in the Little East at 4-0. The loss is the second straight conference loss for Rhode Island College, which dips to 8-5 overall and 1-3 in the LEC.
Marble was 6-for-11 from the field and 8-for-10 from the free throw line to lead all scorers, while sophomore guard Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Academy) added 14 points, five rebounds and three assists as the only other USM player in double-figures. Juniors Angela Santa Fe (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) and Dawn Ross (Gray, Maine/Gray New Gloucester) each scored eight points and freshman guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) added seven points, four assists and five rebounds as the Huskies finished the game with a decisive 40-20 advantage on the glass.
Sophomore guard Tyla Martin (Cumberland, Rhode Island/Cumberland) paced Rhode Island College with 19 points. Junior forward Josalee Danieli (New Gloucester, Maine/Gary New Gloucester) and senior forward Kari Geisler (Deerfield, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) added 16 points and 15 points respectively. Geisler snagged a team-high six rebounds and Danieli chipped in with five caroms.
Struggling to maintain possession of the ball, making an uncharacteristic 17 first-half turnovers, USM led the Anchorwomen by a narrow 34-32 margin at the half. Rhode Island College’s Geisler knotted the score up at 34-34 in the opening minute of the second half on an offensive rebound and the put-back, before the Huskies created some distance for themselves with a 13-0 run over the next four and half minutes to lead 47-34 with 14:46 remaining.
Marble scored five of her 22 points, all from the free throw line, in the run, while senior guard Lindsey Welch (Newport, Maine/Nokomis) capped the run with the first of her two three pointers in the game.
Southern Maine maintained a double-digit lead for a majority of the second half, before the Anchorwomen strung together 9-0 run late in the game to pull to within two points of Southern Maine, 61-59, with 4:43 on the clock.
Trailing by 11, 61-50, with 6:29 to play after a three-pointer from USM’s Ross, Geisler kick started her team with a jumper in traffic and was followed by a three-pointer from Martin for a quick five-point swing. Geisler then added a lay-up off of an assist from Danieli, before junior forward Sherri Heard (Coventry, Rhode Island/Coventry) netted her only basket of the game to pull the Anchorwomen to within striking distance.
Following a time out, Southern Maine was able to regroup and respond to the Rhode Island College run, as sophomore Trisha MacDonald (Millinocket, Maine/Stearns) drained the first of two USM three-pointers to give the Huskies a five-point lead, 64-59, with 3:42 left. USM increased its advantage to eight, 67-59, after Welch nailed her second three-pointer of the game from the left wing. Geisler cut into the USM lead with a lay-up on Rhode Island College’s next possession, but USM outscored RIC 8-0 over the final minute and a half of play for the 75-63 final.
USM finished the game shooting a solid 45.1 percent (23-for-51) from the field and 47.4 percent (9-for-19) from three-point range. RIC shot 50 percent (28-for-56) from the floor, but was just 31.3 percent from three-point range (5-for-16). USM also held a decisive margin from the free throw line making 20 of its 23 attempts from the charity stripe (80 percent), while RIC converted two of its six attempts (33.3 percent).
Southern Maine returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 11) at 7 p.m. when it hosts non-conference rival Salem State. Rhode Island College plays again on the same date at Pine Manor College at 6 p.m.