Freshman Alisyn Alley scored a game-high 31 points on Monday afternoon, as the University of Maine-Augusta women’s basketball team won a play in game over Central Penn 94-84 in double overtime at the USCAA Division II Small College Tournament at Bland College in Virginia. The Moose now advance into the national quarterfinals on Tuesday evening.
A very closely contested first half saw #7 seed UMaine-Augusta lead by as many as six points. Central Penn never took a lead until there was 4:39 left until halftime at 22-21. The Knights would take a 31-27 advantage, before the Moose scored the final four points of the period on a Tamara Ellis jumper and two free throws from Alley to send it to the break tied 31-31.
Trailing 40-38 in the third quarter, #10 Central Penn went on a 9-0 run to take their biggest lead of the day 47-40. UMA responded to that by running off eight straight for a one point edge 48-47, and the game headed to the fourth knotted again 48-48. Kaeti Butterfield, who had four fouls in the first half, re-entered the game with 7:43 left and made an immediate impact by scoring nine points in a span of about six minutes for the Moose. A 10-0 run finished off with a Butterfield three-pointer gave her team a 64-57 lead with 2:49 remaining. She would foul out less than a minute later, and the Knights took advantage by scoring eight in a row themselves for a 65-64 edge on a Cayla Thomas layup with 54 seconds to go. Mariah Dunbar would tie things for UMA with 2-2 from the foul line with 14 seconds showing on the clock, and Alley had a chance to win it in regulation but would miss in the final seconds.
In the first overtime, the Lady Moose would lead by as many as four and would get 1-2 from the line from Briana Dumais with 6.4 seconds left to make it 77-75. Central Penn sent it to a second extra session when Thomas hit a running jumper from the foul line at the buzzer. The Knights never led in the second overtime, and after trailing by as many as four a three-pointer by Brandi Swinton cut it to 85-84 with 1:22 left. Those were the final points though by Central Penn. UMA made 9-10 from the line over the last 1:03 to ice the victory.
Thomas and Sidney Green both had 23 points in the loss for Central Penn. Tahniyaah Jackson and Syndey Bubb added 13 and 12 points respectively. The Knights are now 16-10 and will play a consolation game on Tuesday. Alley had six rebounds and seven assists to go along with her point total in the win for UMaine-Augusta. The Moose shot 36-48 from the foul line (18-25 for Alley). Dunbar chipped in 17 points (9-9 from the line), four rebounds, and five assists. Butterfield finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while Ellis and Sydney Farrar had 10 points each. Ellis had six rebounds, and Farrar also contributed nine rebounds and five assists. UMA is now 22-7 and will face the University of Cincinnati-Claremont in the national quarterfinals on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Also competing in the tournament is reigning USCAA Division II Small College National Champions the Central Maine Community College Mustangs women and the Southern Maine Community College Seawolves men’s team. The SMCC men (19-10) will not be repeating as they lost 68-55 to Penn State Greater Alleghney on Monday in a play-in game. The Seawolves play a consolation contest on Tuesday. The CMCC women (26-2), the #1 overall seed, is scheduled to play their national quarterfinal on Tuesday at 12 p.m. against Penn State Beaver. This is also the second straight season for the Lady Moose in the tournament, as they fell in the quarters to their in-state rival and eventual national champion Mustangs 45-39 last March.
Recap by Chris Lessner
