(Game Box) 

              BOSTON, Mass. - Sophomore forward Amanda Kania (Manchester, N.H./West) poured in a career-high 34 points Saturday afternoon, including 25 in the second half, to lead the Plymouth State University women's basketball team over the University of Massachusetts Boston, 73-60, in a Little East Conference contest at the Clark Athletic Center.

              The Panthers won for the third time in their last four games and improved to 15-8 overall and 5-7 in conference play, while the Beacons fell to 4-19 overall and 1-11 in LEC play. Plymouth State held just a three-point margin at halftime, but dominated the boards to the tune of 24-10 and converted 20 of 21 free throws for a startling 95.2% to pull away in the second half.

              Kania was 12-of-19 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, and was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line.  She also collected seven rebounds and a blocked shot for the Panthers.  Freshman Alicia Doucet (Manchester, N.H./Central) dropped in nine points and junior Laura Kent (Bellingham, Mass.) finished a basket short of a double-double with eight points and 10 boards.

              Freshman Laniece Langford (Boston, Mass.) led UMB with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting to match her career-high. Classmate Evyn Gregory-Stewart (Edgewater, N.J.) ended up with 16 points on 6-of-12 from the floor, including four three-pointers. 

              PSU scored 10 unanswered points in the first half to take a15-6 lead. The Panthers were up 19-11 when the Beacons put together a 9-2 run to pull to within one point (21-20), and PSU went to the locker room with a three-point advantage, 23-20.

              The Panthers began the second half by outscoring UMass Boston, 14-6, led by 10 points from Kania.  Plymouth State maintained a 48-37 margin when the Beacons scored seven of the next nine points to make it 50-44 with 6:32 to go.

              Sophomore Sharmayne Sturgis (Cambridge, Mass.) made a lay-up with 5:54 to go to pull UMB to within six points, 52-46, but the Panthers went on a blistering 13-2 run, fueled by nine points from Kania, to take their largest lead of the day at 65-48 with 2:05 remaining in the game.

              Senior forward Leanne Meninger (Everett, Mass.), the Beacons' lone senior, drained a three-pointer from the top of the key for her first and only trifecta attempt of her career to cap the day's scoring.

              Both teams will be back in action on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m., UMB visiting UMass Dartmouth and PSU returning home to host Southern Maine. 

 (Courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information) 

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