GORHAM, ME – University of Southern Maine (3-2) successfully defended the Costello Cup with a 70-48 victory over Saint Joseph's College (2-3) on Sunday evening. Monks freshman forward Abby Young (North Yarmouth, ME) netted 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the loss.
Courtney Cochran'12 (Waite, ME) registered a double-double for the Huskies with 15 points and 10 caroms and Haley Jordan '13 (Falmouth, ME) notched 12 points in the rivalry matchup. Southern Maine has now defeated the Monks in 13 consecutive meetings and has possessed the Costello Cup, which honors the late "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and longtime basketball coach, since 1996.
For the Monks, Ashley Geel '12 (St. George, ME) scored 11 points and added five boards and Danyelle Shufelt '13 (Sutton, VT) chipped in with seven points. Mackenzie Dufour '14 (Augusta, ME) added six points and three steals and Megan McDevitt '12 (Cumberland, ME) contributed with five points and five boards.
Southern Maine led from buzzer to buzzer, although the Monks did threaten early. Trailing by 10 points, 12-2, after Jordan hit one of two freebies at the 14:25 mark, St. Joe's rattled off eight unanswered points and had cut the lead to two after Allie Parent '12 (Camden, ME) made a layup with 11:28 to play in the first half.
The Monks trailed by three, 17-14, three minutes later after another Parent lay-in, but USM went on a 12-2 run to gain a 29-16 cushion with 3:33 to go in the opening stanza.
The Huskies carried a 37-26 lead into intermission and shot 51.9% (14-27) from the field, including 50% (6-12) from long distance, in the first half. St. Joe's answered by shooting 39.1% (9-23) from the floor and 33.3% (2-6) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes.
The USM lead swelled to 14 points, 44-30, over the first six minutes of the second half. The Monks managed to cut the lead back down to single digits with a Shufelt three-pointer and two free throws from Geel, but the Huskies mounted an 8-2 surge which resulted in an insurmountable 14-point cushion as the hosts led 52-38 with 8:41 to play.
Southern Maine went 8-11 from the free throw line in the final nine minutes to help secure the victory.
St. Joe's shot 28% (14-50) from the floor, 18.8% (3-16) from three-point distance and 68% (17-25) from the FT line in the losing effort. Southern Maine countered by shooting 46.2% (24-52) from the field, 45.5% (10-22) from beyond the arc and 70.6% (12-17) from the charity stripe.
Saint Joseph's will play at Thomas College on Wednesday night at 7:00 PM, while USM is set to travel to Bowdoin on Tuesday for a 5:30 PM tipoff.
Photo courtesy of Rick Young, ryoung3@me.com
