GORHAM, Maine – Senior guard Haley Jordan (Falmouth, Maine) scored a season-high 26 points and senior guard Nicole Garland (Portland, Maine/Deering) became the all-time leader in three-point field goals made to lead the 12th-ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies to an 86-50 win over the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs in a Little East Conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium in Gorham, Maine.
Celebrating "Senior Day" the Huskies improved to 24-1 overall and 13-1 in the Little East Conference with the win their final regular season game. Snapping its three game win streak, UMass Darmouth falls to 18-7 overall and 8-6 in the conference.
Southern Maine, the 2013 Little East Conference regular season champions, earned the top-seed in the upcoming Little East Conference tournament and will face eight-seeded Plymouth State University on Tuesday (5:30 p.m.). The Corsairs are the third seed in the tournament and will host UMass Boston on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.).
Jordan was 8-for-12 from the field and 4-for-4 from three to lead four players in double figures for the Huskies. She added six rebounds and four steals. Senior forward Jordan Grant (Concord, N.H.) notched her eight double-double of the season with 16 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine/McAuley) was 4-for-5 from the field for 12 points. Garland, who holds the single season record for three-pointers with 78 during the 2011-12 season, set the new USM mark for career threes in the second half. She finished with 12 points on 4-for-8 shooting from three-point range and has 210 in her career. She surpassed the previous mark of 207 held by Kaylie DeMillo (2007-2011).
UMass Dartmouth senior Colleen Moriarty (Canton, Mass.) was the only Corsair in double-digit scoring with a team-high 19 points on 8-for-21 shooting. She added seven rebounds. Junior forward Erika Bornemann (Canton, Mass.) tossed in eight points, while freshman Beth Castantini (Newburyport, Mass.) and sophomore guard Erin Fahey (Salem, Mass./St. Mary's) each scored six points.
After a three from freshman guard Colleen Kane (Arlington, Mass.) to give the Corsairs a 3-2 lead in the second possession of the game, USM went on a 23-4 run over the next 11 minutes and thirty seconds to take control of the game with a 25-7 lead and 7:21 remaining in the half. Four different players scored for the Huskies in the run led by seven points from Jordan and six points from Grant.
The Corsairs trimmed their deficit to 13 (25-12) over the next two possessions on a three from Bornemann and two free throws from Moriarity, but USM closed out the half on a 17-7 run including a pair of three-pointers from Jordan in the Huskies final two possessions for a commanding 42-19 lead at the break. Jordan had 15 of her 26 points at the half.
Draining a three for the Huskies first basket of the second half, Garland became the all-time leader in three-pointers at the 18:33 mark. Garland then quickly followed with her third three of the game and second of the half to give the Huskies a 27-point lead, 48-21, with 18:12 to play. From there the Huskies were never threatened leading by as many as 38 points late in the second half.
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