The win is the 13th consecutive for the Huskies who improve to 16-1 overall and remain undefeated in the LEC at 8-0. The win also marked Southern Maine’s 70th consecutive victory over a Little East Conference opponent and its 61st consecutive win at home. The loss snaps UMass Boston’s five-game winning streak and dips the Beacons to 10-7 overall and 5-3 in the LEC.
Marble was 8-for-13 from the floor, adding four assists and three steals, to lead three USM players in double-figures, while playing tremendous defense for the Huskies drawing four player control fouls. Junior forward Angela Santa Fe (Derry, N.H../Pinkerton Academy) added 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting, while sophomore guard Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Academy) tossed in 11 points and passed off a career-high eight assists. Senior guard Lindsey Welch (Newport, Maine/Nokomis) chipped in with nine points, two assists and a pair of steals and freshman guards Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) and Kristen Arsenault (Rumford, Maine/Mountain Valley) netted eight points each.
Junior guard LaKeisha Tucker (Pawtucket, R.I./Providence Country Day) paced the Beacons with a team-high 20 points, including a perfect 6-for-6 mark from the free throw line. Freshman guard Caroline Ashe (West Roxbury, Mass./Mount Alvernia) scored 15 points, draining three three-pointers off of the bench for UMass Boston.
Both teams struggled to find their shooting touch in the opening half with USM connecting on just 11-of-30 from the floor (36.7 percent) and UMass Boston making eight of its 23 first half field goal attempts (34.8 percent). USM, however, was able to pull away from the Beacons and take a 33-19 lead at the break as it connected on 5-of-12 from the three-point line. Both Paradis and Welch connected on a pair of three-pointers for the Huskies.
UMass Boston whittled the USM advantage to 12, 38-26, in early in the second half following a three-pointer from senior guard Kristen Reske (Duxbury, Mass./Sacred Heart) at 17:41, but it was as close as the Beacons would get the rest of the way, as Southern Maine responded over the next four minutes, outscoring UMass Boston 15-7 to take a 20-point lead, 55-33, with 13:09 remaining. Marble scored seven of her 21 in the run while Kent and Santa Fe scored four a piece.
The Huskies offense continued to click the rest of the way as Southern Maine shot a much-improved 55.9 percent (19-for-34) in the second half and led by as many as 30 points, 74-44, with 6:21 remaining.
Southern Maine shot 46.9 percent (30-for-64) from the field for the game and was 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from the three-point line. The Huskies connected on 21-of-30 (70 percent) of their free throws and won the battle on the boards 40-31. UMass Boston finished the game shooting 38 percent (19-for-50) from the field and a solid 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from three-point range.
USM returns to action on Saturday (January 27) at Eastern Connecticut State University for a 1 p.m. LEC contest. UMass Boston plays Suffolk University on Thursday (January 25) in a non-conference game. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.