By Jim Stout
D3hoops.com
DANBURY, Conn. -- In the battle for first place in Little East Conference women’s basketball, Western Connecticut State (11-2, 5-0) beat Southern Maine (11-2, 3-2) by 56-51 Saturday at the O’Neill Center.
Western trailed only after the first basket of the game on Local Player/Coach Day and led by as many as 13 points in the first half.
Southern Maine several times crawled back to within six points in the second half when the outcome was still in doubt, but fell short in attempting to move into a first-place LEC tie with Western.
Western entered the game with 10 wins in its last 11 contests. It has not lost since dropping a 52-46 decision to Westfield State Dec. 7.
Southern Maine, ranked 13th in the D3hoops.com Top 25 and the three-time defending LEC champs, had only a one-point loss at UMass-Dartmouth marring its 11-1 record.
Western was playing without 6-4 junior center Meg Lyon in the starting lineup. Lyon, who leads the LEC in blocked shots, came on later in the first half.
Despite turning the ball over six times in the first five minutes, Western built an early 10-4 lead, with four of the Colonials’ points coming from backup forward/center Deanita Lane.
Julie Plant’s three-pointer for Southern Maine cut the Western lead to 15-12 with nine minutes left in the first half before the Colonials ran off 10 straight points for a 25-12 lead. Lyon coming off the bench had four of the 10 points during that span.
Southern Maine, despite fielding a bigger lineup, had trouble throughout the first half converting from around the basket. The Huskies went seven minutes during one first-half stretch without a field goal.
Two three-pointers by Western shooting guard Stacey Kurtyka in the final 90 seconds of the first half vaulted the Colonials into a 34-21 advantage at intermission.
The win by Western gives it a two-game lead in the standings and in its quest to host the Little East women’s postseason tournament.
Kurtyka, a sophomore, scored 13 points in the first half, while Lyon added seven. Three players had five points apiece for Southern Maine, which shot just 23% from the floor in the opening session (7-for-30). Western was 14-for-26 from the field.
In the second half, Southern Maine cut the Western lead to 37-29 with 13:04 left, then had the chance to cut it to six points. But Plant turned the ball over in the lane and Kurtyka scored in transition, giving Western a 39-29 lead.
Southern Maine forced three consecutive Western turnovers with under 10 minutes to play, allowing the Huskies to draw to within 40-34. Plant scored off a steal, Danielle DeGraw hit one foul shot and Trish Ripton fed Kara Crockett underneath for a layup.
Six points, however, was as close as Southern Maine could come until the final seconds. Off an inbounds play with 5:40 remaining, Kurtyka hit a 3-pointer from the left corner, giving Western a nine-point lead at 45-36.
Southern Maine got back to within 52-48 with 20 seconds showing, but Ripton hit the glass on a 3-point attempt.
Southern Maine (11-2, 3-2): Hopkins 4-9 1-5 9, Plant 5-12 6-6 19, Kimball 0-4 1-2 1, Hathaway 0-0 0-0 0, Zahm 3-5 1-3 7, Dominczak 2-5 1-1 5, DeGraw 0-2 1-2 1, Libby 0-0 0-0 0, Ripton 2-15 2-2 7, Crockett 1-6 0-0 2; TOTALS: 17-58 13-21 51.
Western Connecticut (11-2, 5-0): Camella 1-3 2-4 4, Arroyo 0-3 0-0 0, Kurtyka 6-10 10-12 26, Dolock 2-6 1-2 5, Lane 3-6 2-3 8, Bennett 0-1 0-0 0, Lyon 3-7 1-2 7, Fairchild 2-2 0-0 4, Zagaski 1-2 0-1 2; TOTALS: 18-40 16-24 56.
Halftime: Western 34, S. Maine 21; 3-point goals: S. Maine 4-17 (Plant 3-7, Ripton 1-10), Western 4-7 (Kurtyka 4-7); Rebounds: S. Maine 38 (Hopkins 9), Western 36 (Lane 9); Assists: S. Maine 11 (DeGraw 4), Western 10 (Arroyo, Dolock, Lyon 2); Total fouls: S. Maine 21, Western 18; Technical fouls: none; Fouled out: Zahm; Att: 400