With the win Southern Maine clinches the 2013 Little East Conference regular season title and earns the top seed for the upcoming Little East Conference tournament. Southern Maine is now 23-1 overall and 12-1 in the Little East Conference. Plymouth State falls to 1-22 and 0-13 in the LEC.
Garland led a balanced offense as 12 of the 14 players who entered the game scored. Sophomore forward Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine/McAuley) added 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, while classmate Abby Hasson (South Portland, Maine) had a season-high 11 points off of the bench. Senior forward Jordan Grant (Concord, N.H.) rounded out the scoring with 10 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Haley Jordan (Falmouth, Maine) added seven points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Junior Krystin Corliss (Loudon, N.H./Merrimack Valley) led all scorers with 17 points to lead the Panthers. Senior Katie Seraikas (Concord, N.H.) added 10 points and a seven points off of the bench.
Despite opening a 10 point lead early in the first half, USM led the Panthers by just two points, 14-12, following a three-pointer from Seraikas with 11:32 on the clock. Seraikas' three spurred the Huskies into action and the Huskies responded with a 20-1 run over the next seven and a half minutes to lead 34-13 with just over four minutes remaining in the half. Six different players scored for the Huskies in the run, keyed by consecutive three pointers from junior guard Erin McNamara (West Newbury, Mass./Pentucket Regional), sophomore guard Stephanie Gallagher (York, Maine) and Garland. The Panthers closed out the half on a 7-1 spurt to trail 35-20 at the half, led by four points from freshman Taylor Perry (Simsbury, Conn.).
Southern Maine continued to dominate offensively in the second half outscoring Plymouth State 22-4 in the first eight minutes for a commanding 57-24 lead including a pair of threes from Garland. The Huskies cruised to the victory the rest of the half, leading by as many as 43 points (77-34) late in the game.
Southern Maine shot 45.3 percent (29-for-64) from the field and out-rebounded Plymouth State 48-35. The Huskies held Plymouth State to just 21.6 percent (11-for-51) shooting from the field and forced the Panthers into 18 turnovers while collecting 13 steals.
Southern Maine hosts UMass Dartmouth on Saturday (1:00 p.m.) in its regular season finale. Southern Maine will recognize its four seniors prior to the start of the game. Plymouth State hosts Western Connecticut State on Saturday (1:00 p.m.).
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