Presque Isle, Maine -- The UMaine-Presque Isle women used a stifling first-half defensive effort to cruise to a 70-49 win against Fisher College Sunday afternoon.
The Owls held the visiting Falcon squad to just seven first-half baskets en route to a 40-16 lead after the first twenty minutes of play. Presque Isle started the game on a 18-4 run, and the Falcons didn't hit double digits until Senior Javana Bernard, the 10th leading scorer in NAIA Division II, hit a long three with 8:19 left in the first stanza.
Fisher (8-13) tried to mount a comeback early in the second half by going on a 10-5 run, highlighted by 6 points from Porsha Grayson on driving layups and resulting foul shots, but senior Olivia McNally hit a three to push the Owl lead back to 20, at 48-28 with 13:14 on the clock. The Falcons just couldn't cut into the Owl advantage the rest of the way and Presque Isle recorded their 17thwin on the season.
McNally continued her strong play this week, notching her third straight 20 or more point game, hitting 8-of-14 shots and 4-of-7 from behind the arc for a game-high 20 points. The senior also added 5 boards and 3 assists. Freshman sniper Sydney Churchill went 3-for-5 from deep, for 13 points and 5 rebounds.
Owl Sophomore Amanda Hotham scored 15 and fell one rebound short of a double-double, with 9 rebounds. While leading the team with three double-doubles, Hotham has fallen one rebound short of a double-double five times this season.
Grayson led Fisher with 19 points and Bernard was held to 15 points, one day after scoring 33 against UMaine-Fort Kent.
UMaine-Presque Isle (17-6) will close out the regular season traveling to UMaine-Machias onThursday, February 13, before heading to Washington D.C. to participate in their first GSAC basketball tournament.
Courtesy of UMPI Athletics