Gorham, Maine - The Mules took a short bus ride to Gorham today to play the Huskies once more.  They came away with another win, beating USM 78-72.  Keagan Dunbar (21) and Caroline Smith (20) rose to the top in stats with a combined 37 points, 9 rebounds, and five assists. The Mules brought the intensity to finish off a strong first weekend to start their season 2-0.  Southern Maine concludes its abbreviated 2021 season with a record of 1-5.
 

The Mules came out strong against their opponent, leading the Huskies 21-14 after the first quarter.  Dunbar led in scoring the first quarter with seven points.  In the first quarter Colby was able to get a number of shots off with a shooting percentage of 42.9 percent from the field and they held the Huskies to only 31.6 percent.  This strong start propelled the Mules to a strong finish.   In the second quarter, Colby led the Huskies 31-22, with 4:10 to play in the quarter following a layup from Alisha Aube (33), but USM rallied back outscoring the Mules 6-3 in the closing minutes to cut its deficit to six, 34-28, at the break.

USM started the third on a 5-2 run on a layup from senior Morgan Eliasen (25) and a traditional three-point play from senior Mary Toman (23) to trail by a possession, 36-33, with 8:41 left. Colby brought it back with a 9-4 run of its own, led by six points from Dunbar to lead 45-37 with 3:48 to play. The Mules took a two-possession lead, 49-44, headed into the fourth on a buzzer beating layup from Smith to close the third.

Colby started the fourth with a 7-2 run and snagged a 10-point, 56-46, lead with 7:47 to go following a three from Chiamaka Ubani (11), and remained in front by similar margin until the closing minute of the game.  Up by 11, 72-61, with 38 seconds to play following two free throws from Carly Christofori (3), USM cut into the deficit with threes from Kristen Curley (15), Jackie Luckhardt (14) and Amy Fleming (41) to make it a six-point, 76-70, game with just 15 seconds to go. Forced to foul, Colby's Dunbar sealed the win knocking down two free throws, while Curley hit the final bucket of the game for USM for the 78-72 final. Smith was 6-for-12 from the field for her game-high 19 points, adding six boards and two assists. Dunbar scored 18 points on 6-for-8 shooting with three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Aube and Ubani each scored nine points for the Mules.

The Mules are scheduled to play next weekend against St. Joesph's College in another double-header.  The team will have a week to continue working on skills and tactics they were able to put to use for the first time this weekend.