STATS: Southern Maine 87, Bates 77

Matia Kostakis '08 scored a team-high 16 points.

LEWISTON, Maine  --  Senior guard Katie Sibley (Boothbay, Maine) poured in a career-high 25 points to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 87-77 win over the Bates College Bobcats in a non-conference match-up Tuesday in Alumni Gymnasium. 



With the win the Huskies improve to 3-0 overall, while the Bobcats suffer their first loss of the season to dip to 2-1. 



Sibley strung together an impressive overall line, shooting 7-for-15 from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line.  The 5-5 point guard quarterbacked the Huskies offense to an impressive 56.3 percent effort from the field (27-for-48), passing off a team-high four assists.  Senior forward Ashley Marble (Topsfield, Maine) added 23 points and a game-high nine rebounds for Southern Maine, while sophomore forward Stacey Kent (Northwood, N.H.) tossed in 11 points, grabbing six rebounds with two assists and three steals. 

Val Beckwith '09 had 12 points, three assists and three steals.

Bates junior forward Matia Kostakis (Andover, Mass.) tallied 16 points in a foul-plagued 15 minutes of action to lead the Bobcats.  Kostakis was zeroed in on the basket in the opening half, making 6-of-7 from the field.  Kostakis finished the game shooting an impressive 7-for-9 from the field before fouling out late in the game. 



Junior guard Sarah Barton (Portsmouth, N.H.) and sophomore forward Val Beckwith (Woburn, Mass.) added 10 and 12 points respectively for Bates.  Barton dished out a game-high nine assists and added three steals and six rebounds.



Both teams opened the game clicking on all cylinders, with USM shooting 51.6 percent (16-for-31) and Bates shooting 53.1 percent (17-for-32).  By the end of the half, both teams combined to score 84 points with Southern Maine holding a slim 44-40 advantage.  USM's Sibley scored 11 of her points in the first half, while Kent and freshman guard Nicole Paradis (Skowhegan, Maine) chipped in with seven points each.  Bates' Beckwith connected on 4-of-6 from the floor for nine points.



In the second half, USM outscored Bates 22-10 in the first eight minutes to create a 66-50 lead with 12:02 to play. Marble knocked down 12 of her 23 points in the run, while Sibley added six and junior guard Dawn Ross (Gray, Maine) scored all five of her points on a pair of free throws and a three-pointer.



Bates countered with its own powerful run, outscoring the Huskies 20-9 over the next six and a half minutes to slice its deficit to just five points, 75-70, with 5:30 to play.  Bates used three points each from Kostakis and Barton in the run, while first-year forward Lauren Yanofsky (Belmont, Mass.) tallied four of her five points.



Southern Maine fought off the Bobcat rally with a 9-1 run to take a 13-point lead (84-71), with just over a minute to play to seal the win.



Bates travels to Husson College for a 7 p.m. tip off on Wednesday, Nov. 29.  Southern Maine returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at Bowdoin College for a 6 p.m. start.