WATERVILLE — In a loss at Maine Maritime on Saturday, the Colby College women’s basketball team shot just 25 percent from the field. Those shooting woes were something first-year head coach Brittany Gaetano wanted to address in Tuesday’s game against crosstown rival Thomas.

Against the Terriers, the Mules found their shooting touch. Colby shot 50 percent from the field (29 for 58), including 10 of 19 from 3-point range, to take a 73-46 win. Colby improved to 2-1, while Thomas dropped to 3-1.

“We struggled this weekend shooting the basketball so it was nice to have girls step up and hit some big shots for us,” Gaetano said.

The Mules were hot right from the start of the game. Colby shot 10 of 14 (71.4 percent) in the first quarter — 5 for 7 from three-point distance — to open a 25-14 lead.

“We had a tough loss on Saturday and I think we really refocused. We were confident,” said junior captain Haley Driscoll, who scored eight points and grabbed eight rebounds for Colby. “We knew we could make these shots and went out there and did it.”

Ahead 40-22 at the half, the Mules opened the third quarter with a 12-3 run to put the game away. Twice in the fourth quarter, Colby pushed its lead to 31 points.

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“We were really exited to play tonight, especially before the Thanksgiving break. Our goal is to get better every day, that’s our goal all year, and I thought we accomplished that tonight,” Gaetano said.

Freshman Ainley Burns came off the bench and led Colby with 13 points. Paige Russell and Katie McCrum each scored 10 points for the Mules.

Abby Nielsen led Thomas with a game-high 16 points. It was the first loss of the season for the Terriers, who already have matched their win total for each of the last two seasons.

“The No. 1 thing is, we’re not that team yet where we can just show up and play well every game and beat teams. It was a good win on Sunday night for us against Wheelock. I think they all were hyped up and proud of themselves and they thought they just had to show up today and thought they would play the same way. Hopefully we take a lot away from this game,” Thomas coach Emily Cummins said.

Thomas had just eight assists, with 16 turnovers.

“There are games we pass the ball, share the ball really well, we have good movement, and there’s games that all goes away and we play scared and timid,” Cummins said. “We don’t get out with a lead, it’s a struggle for us to get back.”

Travis Lazarczyk — 861-9242

tlazarczyk@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @TLazarczykMTM


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