GORHAM, Maine – Junior Courtney Cochran scored 15 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead five players in double-figures Tuesday evening as the University of Southern Maine rolled to a 96-61 win over the Plymouth State University Panthers in a Little East Conference women's basketball game at Hill Gymnasium.
Southern Maine moves to 10-1 in the Little East and 15-7 overall. The loss is the third straight for the Panthers who fall to 8-13 overall and 1-10 in the LEC.
Cochran was 5-of-11 from the field and 5-of-6 from the free throw line for her game high total. Junior Renee Nicholas added 14 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals, while senior Becky Dixon added 13 points and five rebounds off the bench. Sophomore Haley Jordan and junior Nicole Garland chipped in with 11 and 10 points respectively.
Senior Amanda Kania (Manchester, N.H./West) and junior Alicia Doucet (Manchester, N.H./Central) each scored 12 points to pace the Panthers. Sophomore Kellie Walsh (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Michaela Galvin (Windham, N.H./Salem) tallied seven points apiece.
With the score knotted up at 14 points, Southern Maine pulled away from Plymouth State on a 15-0 run that spanned three minutes and nine seconds. Back-to-back three pointers from senior Kaylie DeMillo and Garland keyed the run for the Huskies and were followed by seven straight points from Dixon.
Plymouth State cut the lead to six, 32-26, following a three-pointer from Galvin with 6:35 to play, but USM closed out the half outscoring the Panthers 18-8 for a 50-34 lead at the break.
Southern Maine increased its advantage to 65-39 in the first five minutes of the second half, outscoring the Panthers 15-5. USM led by as many as 37 points, 81-44, and the Panthers never got any closer than 28 points the rest of the way.
Both teams are back in action with LEC games on Saturday (1:00 p.m.); Southern Maine travels to Rhode Island College and Plymouth State visits UMass Boston.
-- 30 –