Lawrence leads Panthers with red-hot shooting

            PLYMOUTH, N.H. – The Plymouth State University women's basketball team gave longtime powerhouse University of Southern Maine all it could handle Tuesday evening, but the visiting Huskies pulled out a 67-61 overtime victory in a Little East Conference match-up at Foley Gymnasium.

            Sophomores Madison Beatrice (Newton, Mass.) and Kayla Wyland (Melrose, Mass.) each made one of two free throws for PSU in the final five seconds of regulation for force the extra session, tied at 56-apiece. It was 61-all with two minutes on the overtime clock but the Huskies scored the final six points of overtime to secure the win.

            Southern Maine evened its record at 8-8 and improves to 4-2 in the LEC. Upset-minded PSU fell to 6-9 overall and 0-5 in the Little East.

            Sophomore Ace Lawrence (Middletown, Conn.) had an outstanding night for Plymouth State, scoring 24 points to go with six rebounds, five assists and three steals. She converted 9-of-18 field goal attempts for the evening, including a career-best 6-of-12 from three-point range. Wyland also was impressive with 12 points, a team-high eight rebounds, two blocked shots and two steals.

            Junior Ella Ramonas (Portland, Maine) tallied a team-high 18 points, five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots for the Huskies, while senior Stephanie Gallagher (York, Maine) scored a career-high 17 points. Junior Jill Madden (North Andover, Mass.) scored a career-best 10 points, including four points in the overtime period.

            It was Lawrence's show in the early going, as the Panther guard scored the first 13 points for her team, including three from beyond the arc, and giving PSU a 13-9 advantage. She added another three to push the Panther lead to 18-10 at the midway point of the half, and Wyland gave PSU its largest lead, 20-11, with a layup a minute later.

            USM whittled away at the lead, pulling to within a point, 24-23, with three minutes to go in the half, but freshman Elisabeth Caron (Londonderry, N.H.) and junior Taylor Perry (Simsbury, Conn.) connected for PSU to give the Panthers a 28-24 lead at the break.             

            The Huskies scored the first seven points of the second half to take a 31-28 lead, but PSU answered with seven in a row to restore the four-point advantage. The Panthers had a seven-point bulge, 45-38, at the midway point, and maintained the lead until Madden hit a three-pointer for USM with four minutes left in regulation.

            USM led by as many as six points with 1:24 to play, but PSU battled back to force overtime on a three-pointer by senior Kelley Collins (Groveton, N.H.) and free throws by Wyland and Beatrice.

            Plymouth State returns to action Saturday with a visit to UMass Dartmouth at 1:00 p.m. Southern Maine returns home to host Western Connecticut on Saturday (1:00 p.m.). 

-- 30 --