The win is the sixth in a row for the Huskies who improve to 9-1 overall. The Lyons drop to 6-3 with the loss. The win also marked Southern Maine head coach Gary Fifield’s 498th career victory. Currently, Fifield, the winningest active coach in Division III women’s basketball, has a .861 winning percentage with a career record of 498-80.
Marble was 6-of-12 from the floor and 8-for-10 from the free throw line en route to her fourth double-double of the season. The 5-9 forward’s 18 rebounds bested her previous career-high of 17 set against Bates College in 2005. Senior guard Katie Sibley (Boothbay, Maine/Boothbay Region) was the only other USM player in double-figures with 15 points, six assists and two steals. Junior forward Angela Santa Fe (Derry, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) added nine points and eight rebounds to help USM to a decisive 46-36 advantage on the boards.
Senior guard Joeanna Silvey (Boston, Mass./Thayer Academy) led the Lyons with 17 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while junior forward Marisa Barone (Ludlow, Mass./Wilbraham-Munson) chipped in with 10 points and four rebounds.
With neither team shooting particularly well from the field with Southern Maine holding a slight advantage connecting on 35.2 percent (19-of-54) to Mount Holyoke’s 30.9 percent (17-for-55), the Huskies were able to win the game from the free throw line, knocking down 21 of their 28 attempts (75 percent). Sibley scored a bulk of her points from the charity stripe canning 9-of-10 from the line, including six consecutively in the final minute of play.
After a week off, Southern Maine returns to action on the road at Western Connecticut State University for a Little East Conference match-up on Saturday (January 6). Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. Mount Holyoke hosts Emerson College in non-conference action on Thursday (January 4) at 5 p.m.