GORHAM – Tournament Most Outstanding Player Megan Myles scored 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds Sunday afternoon to lead the University of Southern Maine into the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Final Four with an 80-69 Northeast Sectional final win over Springfield College at Hill Gymnasium.
Coach Gary Fifield’s 30-2 Huskies will take a school-record, 28-game winning streak into Friday’s national semifinal at Norfolk, Va., against Millikin University of Decatur, Ill.
The other competitors are the University of Scranton (Pa.) and Randolph-Macon (Va.).
It will be USM’s fourth trip to the Final Four and its first since 2000.
The Pride ended the season at 25-3.
The Huskies placed five players in double figures Sunday. Ashley Marble tossed in 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds and Donna Cowing scored 13 points while Katie Frost and Shannon Kynoch posted 11 points each.
Frost handed out five assists for USM, which shot 48 percent from the field and outrebounded the Pride 47-37.
Tara McCarthy scored a game-high 22 points to pace Springfield while Courtney Parvin contributed 17 points and six rebounds.
Myles was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Marble and Cowing, along with Olivia Zurek of Bates, and Springfield’s McCarthy and Kacey Wunsch.
Springfield was within eight points (58-50) midway through the second half when USM scored nine unanswered points. Myles hit a layup off a Trish Sylvain feed to kick off the flurry, then Kynoch converted an offensive rebound and made a turnaround jumper. Frost capped the run with a 3-pointer that gave the Huskies a 64-50 advantage.
The Pride hung around, but USM put the game away with a 10-4 spurt that gave it a 17-point lead.
Scranton 49, Bowdoin 43
At Scranton, Pa., Taryn Mellody scored 18 points to lead top-ranked University of Scranton past No. 2 Bowdoin College of Brunswick in an NCAA Division III Sectional Final on Saturday.
Kelly Lewandowski scored nine points for 29-1 Scranton and Eileen Webster had 11 rebounds. The Royals advance to the NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Final Four slated for Friday and Saturday at Norfolk, Va.,
Eileen Flaherty had 14 points and eight rebounds for Bowdoin, the 2004 national runner-up, which wound up 27-3. Julia Loonin added 12 points and seven rebounds. Justine Pouravelis had 11 rebounds and three blocked shots.
Bowdoin trailed 44-43 after Pouravelis scored on a putback with a minute left in the game.
After an offensive rebound, with the shot clock running down, Mellody buried a 3-pointer from the wing, putting Scranton ahead by four with 20 seconds left. She added a free throw with 12 seconds remaining to put the game away.
Bowdoin struggled in the second half, shooting 23 percent from the floor, going 0-for-10 from 3-point range.
Pouravelis and Loonin were both named to the all-tournament squad.
Bowdoin senior co-captains Alison Smith of Stockton Springs and Erika Nickerson of Benton finished their four-year career with a record of 108-9, including four straight NESCAC Championships. They went undefeated (56-0) in home games at Morrell Gym.
Bowdoin (26-3) 43
Pouravelis 3-1-7, Flaherty 4-6-14, Loonin 5-0-12, Smith 1-2-4, Nickerson 3-0-6, Cummings, Berne, Russell, Watson, Withey
Scranton (29-1) 49
Gemmel 3-1-8, Webster 2-0-4, Mellody 7-1-18, Healy 0-2-2, Matt 1-4-6, Lewandowski 2-5-9, Kane 0-2-2, Fabio, Erophy
3-pt. goals: Loonin 2; Mellody 3, Gemmel
Halftime: Bowdoin 23-21
HUSKIES 80, PRIDE 69
Springfield (25-3) USM (30-2)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Franklin 1 11 2 2 4 Cowing 5 8 13
McCarthy 7 21 5 5 22 Sibley 1 7 3
Parvin 7 12 2 2 17 Marble 5 12 15
Schwartz 3 6 0 0 6 Frost 4 7 11
Wunsch 3 7 3 7 9 Myles 8 16 19
Castignetti 0 1 0 0 0 Lin. Welch 0 0
Cotter 2 6 0 0 6 Thibaudeau 0 0
Hill 1 4 1 2 3 Bryant 0 1 1 1
Baumann 0 1 0 0 0 Ross 0 0 0
Paris 1 2 0 0 2 Sylvain 1 1 5
Kynoch 5 8 1 11
Lis. Welch 1 3 2
Samuelson 0 0 0
Totals 25 71 13 18 69 Totals 30 63 15 21 80
Springfield 32 69
Southern Maine 39 80
3-pt. goals – Springfield (6-22): McCarthy 3-10, Cotter 2-5, Parvin 1-2, Franklin 0-5; Southern Maine (5-14): Frost 3-5, Sylvain 1-1, Cowing 1-3, Myles 0-3, Sibley 0-1, Marble 0-1
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