Owl women defeated in semifinals

    CONCORD, N.H. – The second-seeded University of Maine at Presque Isle Lady Owls ended their season Saturday with a  63-51 loss to No. 3 SUNY-Canton in a Sunrise Conference semi-final matchup held at New Hampshire Technical Institute.     The Roos lost to top-ranked University of Maine at Fort Kent in the championship game Sunday. UM-Presque Isle ended the year at 9-13 oveall and a 9-4 record in conference play.
    The Roos pulled out Saturday’s win by outscoring the Owls by a 19-2 margin over the final seven minutes of the game.
    Emily Pelletier put the Owls ahead 49-44 with a 3-pointer with 7:40 on the clock before SUNY-Canton’s Emily Bush scored on a driving layup that ignited the decisive run.
    During that stretch, SUNY-Canton increased its defensive pressure, forced several turnovers, drew three offensive fouls and controlled the boards on both ends of the court. For the game, the Roos outrebounded the Owls 52-31 and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, compared to just 10 for UM-Presque Isle. SUNY Canton converted those offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points and SUNY Canton’s bench outscored the Owls 30-8.
    One of those players off the bench for SUNY Canton was Heather Lottie who scored seven of her game-high 15 points during that closing run. Lottie also had nine rebounds (six offensive) and two steals.  Brittany Kenyon went 6 for 8 from the free throw line and had 13 points despite playing with foul trouble.  Julie Vander Wiel added 11 points and eight boards and Jackie Sedlacek had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.
    Pelletier and Julie Peers each had 14 points to lead the Owls. Peers also grabbed seven rebounds. Megan Korhonen added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists and Emily Moore had four points and dished out seven assists on the day.
    Also during the weekend, Korhonen was named a second-team all-conference selection, while the UMPI men’s Ray Mitchell was selected to the Sunrise Conference first team.