Marble, Huskies hold off Polar Bears Late foul shots squelch rally

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GORHAM – Bowdoin’s sizzling 3-point shooting wasn’t enough to deter the University of Southern Maine women’s basketball team from what could turn out to be a key win once the NCAA Division III postseason rolls around.

The Huskies overcame the Polar Bears’ 50 percent effort from the arc to earn a 64-55 victory at a packed Warren G. Hill Gymnasium Tuesday night in a matchup of two undefeated teams both ranked in the top 10 in all three national polls.

The importance of the game will likely be revealed later in the season. As point guard Katie Sibley wasted no time pointing out minutes after she finished a 10-point evening, the outcome could determine home-court advantage for the NCAA tournament.

For now, the Huskies are savoring an early-season win over a ranked opponent.

“It’s a huge for confidence and morale of the team,” said Ashley Marble of Topsfield, who led 4-0 Southern Maine, ranked No. 3 in this week’s D3hoops.com poll, with 21 points, including 15 in the second half.

Like the rest of the Huskies, Marble struggled from the free-throw line throughout the game but stuck her foul shots at the end. USM would need the points as No. 2 Bowdoin (3-1) kept the game close.

The Huskies managed to maintain at least a two-point lead in the second half, but the Polar Bears relied on strong outside shooting as they made several short runs to stay in contention. Bowdoin’s Marisa Berne hit a 3-pointer from the left side with 2:17 left to cut USM’s lead to 58-54.

Thirty-three seconds later, however, Calais native Katie Frost drove inside for a running layup to push the lead back up to six points.

“I think it was a boost for us and it gave us that quick intensity that we needed to get down on defense,” said forward Megan Myles, who poured in 16 points and grabbed seven boards.

Bowdoin scored just once more in the game, on a Julia Loonin free throw, while Marble iced it with three foul shots in the final 19 seconds.

“I think that they played a great game,” Bowdoin coach Stefanie Pemper said. “We could never really tie it. We made some great runs and stayed in it and they’re too good for that. They have so many weapons. … But I loved a lot of what we did. We didn’t beat ourselves.”

After hitting five of nine 3-point attempts in the first half, Bowdoin went 4-for-9 in the second. Loonin (15 points) made four of her six shots and Berne (14 points) was 4-for-9.

But the Polar Bears shot just 34 percent overall.

“[We knew] from last year they’re not an outstanding 3-point shooting team and they’re so athletic inside that our game plan was to not let them get any easy hoops in transition … and to make them try to beat us on the perimeter,” USM coach Gary Fifield said. “… That backfired a little bit but at the same time if you let them pound it inside to Justine [Pouravelis] or [Eileen] Flaherty, you could have a rough night.”

Pouravelis and Flaherty, both listed at 5-11, combined for 20 points and 15 rebounds going up against the 5-11 Myles, 6-foot Shannon Kynoch, and the 5-9 Marble.

Rebounds were even at 41 apiece, with Marble’s 15 (six offensive) as the game high. She also recorded a double-double in a 66-48 win over Bates on Nov. 22.

Bowdoin had 10 turnovers in the first half, which helped the Huskies take an early lead.

Southern Maine jumped out to an 11-2 lead and then a 13-8 edge, but the Polar Bears got back into it thanks to two Berne 3-pointers in a two-minute span.

Scoring was limited, but the long-range shots continued for both teams at the end of the half. USM had regained a more substantial edge when Sibley nailed a 3-pointer from left of the key to go up 20-14.

Three minutes later, Loonin knocked down her second 3-pointer of the half, and Donna Cowing responded on the other end with a 3-pointer off a Trish Sylvain pass. Maria Noucas, who had entered the game for the first time with less than a minute left, drained Bowdoin’s fifth 3-pointer with 41.8 seconds remaining to make it 23-20.

But USM ended the half with a flourish, as Myles put back a rebound and the Husky defense didn’t allow the Bears to get off a final shot.

“That had to be an outstanding game for the spectators to watch,” Fifield said. “It was back and forth like a boxing match, prizefighters going back and forth at each other.”

HUSKIES 64, POLAR BEARS 55

Bowdoin (3-1) Southern Maine (4-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Loonin 4 8 3 5 15 Cowing 3 7 8

Pouravelis 2 9 5 8 9 Sibley 4 11 10

Cummings 0 2 0 0 0 Marble 6 14 13 21

Berne 5 11 0 0 14 Frost 3 7 8

Flaherty 5 13 1 2 11 Myles 7 15 16

Anelauskas 0 2 1 2 1 Welch 0 2 0

Noucas 2 3 0 0 5 Sylvain 0 1 0

Kaubris 0 2 0 0 0 Kynoch 0 5 1

Russell 0 3 0 0 0

Totals 18 53 10 17 55 Totals 23 62 11 23 64

Bowdoin 20 64

USM 25 55

3-pt. goals – Bowdoin (9-18):, Lunin 4-6, Berne 4-9, Noucas 1-1, Cummings 0-1, Flaherty 0-1; USM (7-16): Cowing 2-3, Frost 2-5, Sibley 1-1, Marble 1-3, Miles 1-3, Welch 0-1

Attendance: 1,400 (est.)