Earning its sixth consecutive win the Huskies improve to 10-1 overall and remain undefeated in LEC play at 3-0. The win marked the 499th career victory for Southern Maine veteran head coach Gary Fifield. Fifield’s career record is currently 499-80 and he ranks as the all-time winningest head coach in NCAA Division III women’s basketball with a .861 winning percentage. The loss drops Western Connecticut to 8-4 overall and 2-1 in the Little East.
Marble scored nine of her career-high 30 points in the final four minutes of play to lead the Huskies to the come-from-behind victory. The 5-9 forward and two-time Little East Conference Player of the Year (2005, 2006) finished the game shooting 11-of-22 from the field en route to her fifth double-double of the season. Marble also surpassed the 1500-point and 900-rebound marks in her career and sits at 1513 points and 903 rebounds.
Senior guard Katie Sibley (Boothbay, Maine/Boothbay Region) was the only other USM player to reach double figures in tossing in 15 points on a 6-for-11 effort from the floor. Sophomore guard Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H./Coe-Brown Academy) grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Huskies to a decisive 46-30 edge on the boards.
Junior guard Ally Greenwood (East Harford, Conn./Cromwell) led the Colonials with 17 points on a 7-for-12 mark from the field. Sophomore forward Stacey Roberts (Windham, Conn./Windham) tallied 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds off of the bench and senior forward Mallory Stevens (Seymour, Conn./Seymour) chipped in with nine points, five assists and three steals.
Western Connecticut connected on six three-pointers in the opening half, including three consecutively in the final four minutes of the opening stanza to take a five-point, 35-30, advantage into the break. Roberts drained two of her three three-pointers in the Western Connecticut flurry, while Greenwood added the third. Greenwood finished the half with 13 of her team-high 17 points.
Western Connecticut was able to maintain between a seven and five point cushion for a majority of the second half and was ahead of Southern Maine by three, 52-49, with 6:53 remaining before Marble catapulted the Huskies to the win in the final four minutes of the game.
Marble ignited an 11-5 Southern Maine run to close out the contest, knocking down her only three-pointer of the game with 4:40 on the clock to tie the score at 52-52. Western Connecticut freshman Kate Moffo (Southington, Conn./Southington) answered right back for the Colonials with a three-pointer of her own, but USM rattled off the next eight points of the game to take the lead 60-55 with 10 seconds left to play. Marble scored five of the Huskies final eight points on a pair of lay-ups and a free throw. Western Connecticut’s Greenwood scored a lay-up in the final seconds of the game for the 60-57 final.
Southern Maine finished the game shooting a solid 46.8 percent from the field connecting on 22 of its 47 field goal attempts, but turned the ball over 17 times. The Huskies also struggled from the free throw line making just 14 of its 30 tries from the charity stripe for a below average 46.7 free throw shooting percent.
After coming out on fire in the opening half, shooting 44.8 percent (13-for-39), Western Connecticut finished the game shooting just 37.3 percent from the field (22-for-59).
Southern Maine returns to action on Tuesday (January 9) at 5:30 p.m. when it travels to Rhode Island College for a Little East Conference match. Western Connecticut returns to action on the same date when it travels to Keene State College for an LEC game at 5:30 p.m.