With the win, Southern Maine improves to 2-1 in the Little East and 7-6 overall. The Owls, who entered the game with an undefeated record of 11-0 and 2-0 in the LEC, suffered their first loss of the season to stand at 11-1 and 2-1 in the conference.
Ramonas was 5-for-11 from the field and 10-for-10 from the free throw line for her career-best 23 points. Ramonas added six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Senior Gretchen Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/St. Thomas Aquinas) added 16 points, including seven in the final quarter, as the only other Husky in double figures. Sophomore Kayla Stacy (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) and freshman Alexa Srolovitz (Montreal, Quebec/New Hampton) each had eight points, while senior forward Megan Pelletier (Winslow, Maine/Messalonskee) had six points, two assists, a blocked shot and a game-high eight rebounds.
Senior Kelsey Cognetta (Stamford, Conn.) led the Owls with 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Sandi Purcell (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) and junior Sarah Kober (Easthampton, Mass./Hampshire) each chipped in with 10 points.
After taking a 17-11 lead following the first quarter and a 19-11 lead on the first possession of the second frame, Southern Maine went ice cold from the field, as the Owls outscored USM 23-6 in the second quarter for a 34-23 lead at the break. Following a pair of free throws from Ramonas at the 8:11 mark of the period, KSC outscored USM 16-0 over the next six minutes to take a 27-19 lead with 2:02 to play in the frame. Stacy halted the KSC run with a layup, but the Owls' freshman guard Emily McPadden (Tyngsborough, Mass.) answered right back with a three for a 30-21 lead. A jumper from USM freshman Kimberly Howrigan (Fairfield, Vermont/Bellows Free Academy) cut the Husky deficit to 30-23, but the Owls closed out the half with four consecutive points on baskets from Cognetta and Kober for the 11-point halftime margin.
The Owls continued their pace of play to start the third and grew its lead to 17 points, 45-28, with 2:45 on the clock after a layup sophomore Lydia Vital (Cambridge, Mass./Worcester Academy). Facing its largest deficit of the game, Southern Maine closed the gap to 45-33 before the period ended on a 5-0 spurt highlighted by a traditional three-point play from Pelletier.
The Huskies continued their scoring streak into the fourth scoring the first 12 points of the period to make it a 17-0 run to knot the score up at 45 with 7:01 on the clock. Ramonas scored the first five points of the quarter on a layup and a three-pointer before Anderson scored the next seven. After canning a three at the 7:31 mark to make it 45-41 in favor of KSC, Anderson came up big defensively stealing away the inbounds' pass and scoring a layup, making it a two point game. After a KSC turnover, Anderson then took the ball hard to the basket for the tying score.
The game remained tight, and after back-to-back baskets from juniors Amanda Petrow (Methuen, Mass.) and Stephanie D'Annolfo (Tyngsborough, Mass.) the Owls forced the fifth tied score of the quarter. However, the Huskies responded as Srolovitz canned a dagger of the three-pointer on an assist from Ramonas to give Southern Maine the lead for good, 56-53 with 2:26 to go.
The Huskies' forced a shot clock violation on the Owls' ensuing possession and Ramonas and hit a pair of free throws extending USM's lead to 58-53. D'Annolfo made it a one-possession game, 60-57, on a jumper with 1:10 to play, but USM closed the game out on the line sinking 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch for the win.
Southern Maine returns to action Wednesday (5:30 p.m.) when it travels to Rhode Island College for a Little East Conference game. Keene State faces Worcester State on the road Monday (12:00 p.m.) in a non-conference game.
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