Earning its fifth consecutive win the Huskies improve to 8-1 overall. The loss, the fifth in as many games for the Cougars, drops Clark to 3-7 overall.
After scoring just three points in the first half, Marble tossed in 19 points in the second stanza en route to her game-high totals. Marble’s 22-point effort moved her into fourth all-time in career points scored at USM with 1,463 points. The 5-9 forward is averaging a team-leading 19.4 points per game.
Freshman guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine/Skowhegan) added a career-high 14 points and five steals while senior forward Lauren Samuelson (Southbury, Conn./Pomperaug) chipped in with a solid 10 points, three blocked shots and a career-high nine rebounds for the Huskies. Senior guard Katie Sibley (Boothbay, Maine/Boothbay Region) played a solid floor game for Southern Maine with five points, six rebounds, three steals and a career-high eight assists.
Senior center Ashley Auclair (Williamsburg, Mass./Hampshire Regional) and freshman forward Ruth Briggs (Sanford, Maine/Sanford) each scored 12 points to lead Clark. Sophomore forward Sarah Roderigue (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee) added six points for the Cougars to go along with her team-high nine rebounds.
The Huskies shot a solid 44.6 percent (26-for-58) from the floor, including a 6-for-17 (35.3 percent) mark from three-point range but struggled from the free throw line making just 8-of-21 attempts (38 percent). However, Southern Maine’s defense was able to limit the Cougars to just 17 field goals in the game for a sub-par 30.4 percent from the field (17-for-56) and force Clark into 26 turno
vers.
Southern Maine returns to action against the Mt. Holyoke College Lyons in its second game of the Land of Magic Classic on Friday (December 29). The Huskies will face the Lyons and 10 a.m. Clark plays the College of Staten Island at 2 p.m. on the same date.