Sigi Koizar drives past Clemson defender Alexis Carter during their game at the Cross Insurance Center Friday night. Photo courtesy of Black Bear Athletics.
Bangor- The University of Maine Women’s basketball team continued to impress on Friday evening, putting three players in double digit scoring, and rolling to an easy 75-42 win over Atlantic Coast Conference member Clemson at the Cross Insurance Center.
On ugly sweater night, there wasn’t much ugly in the Black Bears play. After a slow start Maine was able to rattle off a 9-0 run to take take a 17-8 lead late in the first quarter. Clemson would respond with a quick 5-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to 17-13 but Sigi Koizar nailed a three pointer just as the first quarter buzzer sounded to give Maine a 20-13 lead after the first. “I think it was a great game played by us tonight. It was a great crowd, great atmosphere, probably our best crowd so far this year”, said Maine head coach Richard Barron after the game.
Maine would take their largest lead of the game in the second quarter by ending the half on a 8-0 run to take a 33-20 lead into halftime. The Bears would come out scorching hot in the second half and score the first 11 points to turn a second quarter lead of 5 all the way up to 24 halfway through the third period and put the game out of reach. During the run, in which Maine scored 19 consecutive points, the Bears kept Clemson off the scoreboard for 10 minutes and 33 seconds. In the third period alone, Maine shot 7-12 from the field, 3-5 from three point range and 5-5 from the line while Clemson shot 2-13 from the floor, 0-5 from downtown and 0-2 from the charity stripe. The hot shooting allowed Maine to outscore Clemson 22-4 in a decisive third frame.
The 33 point margin of victory was the biggest any America East team has ever had over a team from the ACC. With an earlier season win over LSU, it also marks the first time a Maine team has ever beaten two teams from a major conference in the same season. “For us, it’s just another opponent and I think we are more focused on doing our best and focused on what we can do”, said Maine senior forward Mikaela Gustafsson after the game.
Koizar led the Black Bears with 25 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. She hit 3-5 from three point range and 9-13 overall from the floor. Sophie Weckstrom had 15 points also hitting on 3 shots behind the three point line and Liz Wood had a double double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to help Maine improve to 9-4 on the season and win their 11th straight home game dating back to last season.
Clemson, who falls to 3-8, they were led by Nelly Perry who had 12 points and Danielle Edwards chipped in with 7.
Maine for the game was 57 percent from the field and held the Tigers to just 33 percent. Maine connected on 8-16 from three point range while Clemson was just 4-16. The Bears also hit 13-19 from the line while the Tigers were just 4-8.
Maine returns to action Monday night on the road as they visit old friend and former Black Bear head coach Sharon Versyp and the Purdue Boilermakers out of the Big 10 conference. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Clemson will also play on Monday as they have a home game scheduled for 12 noon against UNC-Asheville.
Clemson(42)
Perry 4-2-12, Edwards 3-0-7, Wright 3-0-6, Cardaci 2-0-5, Carter 2-1-5, Roos 1-1-3, Collier 1-0-2, Mosley 1-0-2
Maine(75)
Koizar 9-4-25, Weckstrom 6-0-15, Wood 4-3-11, Gustafsson 3-2-9, Swan 3-0-6, Charles 1-1-3, Bodine 1-0-3, Gerostergiou 0-2-2, Heise 0-1-1
Clemson 13 7 4 18- 42
Maine 20 13 22 20- 75
3 pt goals: Clemson- Perry (2), Cardaci, Edwards/Maine- Koizar (3), Weckstrom (3), Bodine, Gustafsson
Foul shots- Clemson 4-8 50%/Maine 13-19 68%
Turnovers- Clemson 14/Maine 14
