USM jumped out to an early lead and didn’t look back crushing St. Joseph’s College 79-45 at home on Wednesday. The game was never close, as the Huskies coasted into their fifteenth straight victory.
USM was up 21-5 with twelve minutes remaining in the first half when the Monks clamped down on defense, holding the Huskies scoreless for the next five minutes. St. Joe’s cut the score to 21-14, when Junior Ashley Marble (Topsfield, ME) hit a jumper from the corner as the shot clock expired; souring any hope the Monks had of making a comeback.
USM was up 37-18 at the half led by Junior Katie Frost (Calais, ME) and Junior Megan Myles (Auburn, ME), who had eleven points each.
In the second half the Huskies were able to rest their starters and showcase their entire lineup. All of the Huskies got a chance to hit the court, giving USM a true team victory. Coach Gary Fifield spoke on the team’s cohesiveness after the game.
“We’ve been playing pretty well lately. We have a lot of good players that can step in and play great ball,” he said.
With all of the scandals and suspensions that have plagued the Huskies this year, they finally seem to be gelling as a team.
“We’ve tried to put all those things past us. We’ve been playing excellent team ball. Our timing is finally there,” Marble (8 points, 5 rebounds) said.
USM improves to a perfect 10-0 at home this year, but not everything went smooth on Wednesday according to Coach Fifield.
“Our offense needs to be cleaned up. We had nineteen turnovers tonight; we must take care of the ball better offensively.”
The Monks lone shining star was Senior Val Dumais (Lewiston, ME) who had fourteen points. USM’s leading scorers were Frost and Myles, both with fourteen.
After the shaky 2-2 start to their season, the Huskies have been cruising as of late, but Coach Fifield says these past games can’t tell the whole story.
“We’ve been playing fairly lopsided games. It’s tough to really tell where we stand. We need to have a better understanding of what we are looking for when calling plays on offense.”
The Huskies get a chance to defend their home court perfection Tuesday against Plymouth State and close out their regular season Saturday at UMass-Dartmouth.
USM is currently ranked third in Division III national polls, ahead of fourth-ranked Bates, who USM lost to earlier in the season. In-state rival Bowdoin, which gave USM its other defeat, is ranked number one in the nation. The Little East Conference tournament tips off on Tuesday February 22, 2005.