FARMINGTON – The University of Maine at Farmington women’s basketball team took down the visiting Plymouth State Panthers on Monday afternoon in exhilarating fashion, securing a 47-46 victory at home in a non-conference battle.
In a game where both teams struggled from the field, every bucket felt important and a two-possession game felt like a ten-point game. Trailing by four with just six minutes, the Beavers forced eight straight Panther misses and went on an 8-0 scoring burst to take a four-point lead with 1:21 left to play and seemed well on their way to the win.
After a Plymouth State timeout, the Beavers forced a ninth consecutive miss and had the ball with the four-point lead with a minute to play. After Farmington secured the rebound, Plymouth State set a quick trap, forcing a Beaver turnover and got a quick layup to make it a two-point game with 52 seconds to play.
On the ensuing Beaver possession, Jaycie Stevens (Pittsfield, Maine) found and open Ruby McMinis (Wells, Maine) on the right wing who found nothing but nylon as Farmington regained a four-point advantage.
One the following Panther possession, the Beavers forced yet another Plymouth miss but Ashley Stephens grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back up and in to pull back with a pair. Plymouth put on a full court press in an attempt to force a turnover but the Beavers had no issue breaking the press finding a wide open McMinis who drove in for a layup that looked like it would seal the victory for Farmington. McMinis’ layup rimmed out and Bri Wilcox grabbed the board, went coast to coast, hit a layup and got fouled to tie the game with a chance to take the lead with the free throw to follow. Wilcox’s free throw struck back iron and Sarah Poli (Benton, Maine) grabbed the rebound and called a quick timeout to set up a play for a chance to win the game.
The Panthers played aggressive defense on the final possession, getting called for a pair of fouls, the second of which sent Jessica Dow (Saco, Maine) to the free throw line with an opportunity to give the Beavers the lead with three seconds to play. Dow’s first free throw hit the right iron and fell off the rim creating an all-important second free throw. Dow calmed her nerves and drilled the seconds free throw to put the Beavers up one.
Plymouth State had no timeouts remaining and were unable to advance the ball. The Panthers could not get a shot off in the final three seconds as the Beavers picked up their fifth win of the season.
Both teams couldn’t seem to get much going offensively early but the Beavers were persistent in not letting their shooting woes cost them the game, overcoming a seven-point halftime deficit.
After shooting 1-10 from beyond the arc in the 1st half, Melissa Mayo (Bridgton, Maine) and Maddy White (Waldoboro, Maine) hit back-to-back triples early in the 3rd quarter to pull the Beavers within a point.
After the Beavers took a one-point lead on Poli bucket, Plymouth closed out the quarter on a 7-3 run, taking a three-point lead into the 4th quarter.
The Beavers defense turned it up a notch in the 4th quarter, holding the Panthers to 4-18 shooting in the quarter and forcing four turnovers en route to the win.
Dow played an instrumental on both ends of the court tonight. She finished with 18 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Poli was a monster on the boards hauling in a career-high 18 rebounds. Mayo chipped in with ten points and four rebounds off the bench.
Plymouth State was paced offensively by Ashley Stephen who tallied 13 points and eight rebounds. Lea Crompton finished with ten points, six rebounds, and five assists in the loss.
UP NEXT
The Beavers return to action on Friday evening on the road against the University of Maine at Presque Isle in a North Atlantic Conference battle. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
