01/05/2008
Nationally Ranked Southern Maine Drops Women's Basketball, 84-45

GORHAM, Maine -- The Clark University women's basketball team dropped an 84-45 decision to the nationally ranked University of Southern Maine Huskies in the championship game of the 2008 USM Invitational Tournament Saturday afternoon at Hill Gymnasium.

Senior forward Shannon Kynoch (South Burlington, Vt.) scored a season-high 17 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead the Huskies.

With the win, Southern Maine improves to 10-1 overall and earns its 75th consecutive win at home. The loss drops Clark to 4-6 overall.

Kynoch was an outstanding 7-for-9 from the field and added a pair of blocks and steals to lead four Huskies in double-figures. The 6-0 forward was named the tournaments most valuable player, joining teammates senior guard Dawn Ross (Gray, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) and senior forward Josalee Danieli (New Gloucester, Maine/Gray-New Gloucester) on the all-tournament team. Clark sophomore forward Jillian Camilleri (Lancaster, Mass./Nashoba Regional), Maine Maritime freshman forward Tatum Welch (Newport, Maine) and UMaine Presque Isle junior forward Erica Davis (Cumberland, Maine) rounded out the all-tournament team.

Danieli scored a season-high 15 points for USM on a 7-for-11 effort from the field, while Ross and sophomore guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine) each tossed in 11 points. Sophomore forward Becky Dixon (Pittston, Maine/Gardiner) added nine points and a team-high 10 rebounds off of the bench.

Camilleri was the only Cougar to reach double-figures in scoring with 10 points. Sophomore forward Ruth Briggs (Sanford, Maine) added eight points off of the bench.

The Huskies controlled the game from the start and raced out to a 30-6 lead midway through half connecting on 10 of their first 17 shots (58.8 percent) in the opening 10 minutes including 5-for-6 from three-point range. Kynoch scored eight of her 17 points in the spurt, while Paradis scored nine of her 11. Southern Maine continued to roll the rest of the half and led 47-27 at the break.

Southern Maine continued to pour on the points in the second half and quickly built a 33-point advantage, 60-27, with 14:00 on the clock after stringing together a 13-0 run to begin the second stanza. From there USM never led by less than 31 points the rest of the way and held its largest lead of the contest 78-34 with 4:26 to play.

The Huskies finished the game shooting an outstanding 52.4 percent (33-for-63) from the field and 42.3 percent (11-for-26) from three-point range. Led by Kynoch, USM won the battle in the paint outscoring the Cougars 24-8. Southern Maine also capitalized on the Cougar turnovers scoring 30 of its 84 points on 23 Clark turnovers.

Clark University finished the game shooting just 29.8 percent (17-for-57) from the field, including a 2-for-12 mark from three-point range.

Clark University hosts Babson College on Wednesday (Jan. 9) at 7 p.m.