WATERVILLE — The University of Maine at Presque Isle women are now 3-0 under new coach Doug Carter after besting Thomas College Saturday, 72-67.
The first half saw both teams go back and forth as the lead changed hands five times. The Terriers held the largest lead at nine at the 7:14 mark. However, the Owls were able to claw back, using the hot shooting of sophomore Amanda Hotham of Fort Fairfield to end the half down only by two points.
Thomas came out firing in the second half, taking a 10-point lead at the 14:30 mark fueled by the efforts of Lexi Merrifield, who scored 15 of her team-high 17 after intermission.
UMPI continued to battle and with 8:34 on the clock and Thomas up by two, Hotham got rolling again, scoring seven straight points. Hotham connected on a variety of shots, including her second long-range bomb of the game to put UMPI up five — a lead they would not relinquish.
Thomas did get to within four with 37 seconds remaining, but strong, heady guard play and accurate foul shooting were enough to deny a comeback.
The UMPI defensive effort in the second half led to 12 turnovers and 19 points off those miscues. That team defensive effort, coupled with the outstanding offensive work by the Owl backcourt combination of Darby Toth and Olivia McNally, ensured the first 3-0 start for the UMPI women’s program in many seasons.
McNally scored 20 points, along with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. The senior from Sherman was also 11 of 15 from the charity stripe to help salt the win away. Hotham netted a team-high 22 points in 21 minutes of court time and also hauled in five rebounds.
Toth, playing a full 40 minutes, was remarkable at the point. The sophomore from Hebron, Ohio added 11 points and had only one turnover against the very physical Thomas defenders.
“The measure of a true point guard isn’t written on any stat sheet, although Darby had a solid game statistically, it’s shown in the record of the team,” Carter said. “Darbs had a tremendous game, nearly flawless. They tried to get physical with her and she just battled like anyone would expect a leader on a championship team would.”
The Owls will next play rival UM-Machias tonight at 8 p.m. at Wieden Gymnasium.
Owl men lose twice
WATERVILLE — Michael McClung of Mars Hill, who made the all-tournament team, finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots to lead UM-Fort Kent to a 74-62 win over UMPI in the consolation game of the Colby College Classic on Sunday.
UMFK took a 33-27 lead into the locker room after battling back and forth with the Owls for the first 20 minutes. The early parts of the game saw the lead swap back and forth six times before UMFK took control.
The Owls just could not chip into the Bengal lead, only cutting the deficit under double digits twice in the second half — the final time on a Thiago Conceicao foul shot at 9:24 to make the score 54-45.
Michael Warner, an all-tournament team pick for UMPI, had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists. Freshman Conceicao added 15 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Chase Vicaire had 11 points for the Owls.
UM-Presque Isle started slowly in its game against Fisher College the previous evening and despite fighting back several times, could not hold back the Falcons, losing 93-77 in the opening game of the tournament.
The Owls trailed 53-40 at halftime and were unable to stop the Falcons’ leading scorer, Tyler Shular, who registered 18 of his game-high 28 over the first 20 minutes. Shular missed only one first-half shot and had three three-pointers prior to intermission.
UMPI showed some fight, scoring the first seven points of the second half to cut the lead to 53-47 at the 17:30 mark, but Shular knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the game to start a 24-9 run that put the game away.
Vicaire and freshman reserve Sean Manganti each tallied 19 points and sophomore point guard Derek Healy added 17, along with three assists and four steals.
Last Wednesday at Wieden Gym, UMPI used the inside power game of Conceicao and team balance to overcome a three-point halftime deficit to defeat visiting Maine Maritime Academy, 65-58.
Conceicao continued his dominating play, scoring a game-high 19 while contributing 11 rebounds, four blocks and three steals. A trio of Owls, Warner, Vicaire and Manganti, chipped in with 12 points apiece. Warner grabbed 10 rebounds.
Tyler Chaisson was the high man for MMA, tallying 13 points and seven boards.
UMPI is now 2-3 overall and will next play Connecticut College on Saturday, Dec. 7 as part of the Camel/U.S. Coast Guard Cadet Classic.
