FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Senior guard Moe Jones (Freeport, N.Y./Freeport) scored a career-high 21 points, helping the Plattsburgh State women's basketball team prevail, 70-54, over the University of Southern Maine in its first game at the Cruzin Classic on Sunday at the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.
 
Jones drained her 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 shooting from the line, while freshman guard Sarah Bonner (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown) came off the bench to score 10 points in 26 minutes of work. Freshman forward Frannie Merkel (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) posted game-highs in rebounds (11) and blocks (four), while Bonner distributed a game-high four assists.
 
For Southern Maine, junior forward Miranda Nicely notched a team-high 12 points, while freshman guard Jackie Luckhardt corralled eight rebounds.
 
Plattsburgh State rises to 5-4 overall with the win and closes out action in the Sunshine State tomorrow when it faces William Smith College at 2:30 p.m. Southern Maine drops to 2-8 with the loss and tangles with No. 8 Wartburg College tomorrow at 4:30 p.m.
 
The Cardinals never trailed in the contest, as the Huskies knotted the score early at 4-all before Plattsburgh State erupted for a 7-0 run, which was capped off by a Merkel jumper. Southern Maine scored four of the final six points of the first quarter to enter the second period down 16-10.
 
During the second quarter, the two teams traded points until Plattsburgh State went on a 13-4 surge, and freshman guard/forward Olivia Souky (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) connected on a jump shot to hand the Cardinals a commanding 33-18 advantage. Though Southern Maine's freshman guard Mychaela Harton closed the gap to 13 with a layup with 1:11 remaining in the half, senior guard Jax Miller (Argyle, N.Y./Argyle) converted on a layup with under a minute to go to give the Cardinals a 35-20 advantage at the halftime intermission.
 
Plattsburgh State continued to build its lead in the third quarter, and a Jones free throw with 1:27 remaining in the period gave the Cardinals a 21-point advantage. In the fourth quarter, Plattsburgh State continued to push the tempo, with its high-water mark being a made layup by freshman forward Becca Mahon (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Arlington) that handed the Cardinals a 62-40 edge, their largest of the afternoon. The Huskies did, however, outscore the Cardinals 12-8 down the stretch.
 
The Cardinals shot over 45 percent from the floor for the second time in as many games, as they shot at a 46.6 percent (27-of-58) clip on the afternoon. They won the rebounding battle by a 41-36 margin and also shot 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the line. Southern Maine was limited to 35 percent (21-of-60) shooting from the field, including an 11.1 percent (2-of-18) mark from beyond the arc.