Members of the University of Maine Womens basketball team celebrate a victory Friday, November 11th. Photo by Chris Lessner.
BANGOR, Maine- The University of Maine Womens basketball team began their 2016-17 season in resounding fashion Friday evening, defeating Purdue 67-47 in the opening game of the Tip-Off Tournament at the Cross Insurance Center.
Maine (1-0) used a smothering defense and forced the visiting Boilermakers into seven first quarter turnovers to build a 25-6 lead after the first 10 minutes of play, that included a 17-1 run to start the game. “They just kicked our butts. You can’t have three turnovers in a row and really their first 10 points were layups. You just can’t set the tone, especially a home game, us being on the road and being really young, it just put us on our heels and we didn’t recover”, said Purdue Head Coach Sharon Versyp. Purdue ended up with 10 first quarter turnovers.
A three pointer from Blanca Millan gave Maine their biggest lead of the first half at 31-7 in the second quarter, and the Bears held a 36-18 halftime lead.
Purdue (0-1) would cut the lead to 14 early in the third, before Millan and Tanesha Sutton would sink back to back three pointers and gave Maine their largest lead at 49-24 late in the quarter.
The Boilermakers cut it down to 12 in the final period, before Maine ran off seven straight points on a three pointer from senior guard Sigi Koizar, and back to back baskets from Laia Sole to push the lead back to 19 and secure the victory. “It means we have a talented group. It also means we beat a team early in the season. Purdue is gonna learn from this game and all the games and get better as well. I think this group played well. They came out really early and set the tempo with their defense and agressiveness, Blancas (Millan) steal and one for Tanesha (Sutton) so we got two quick layups, and from that point forward we just played in control”, said Maine Head Coach Richard Barron.
The win is the first for Maine over a team from the Big Ten Conference since a 2004 victory over Michigan, when the Bears were coached by Versyp. Koizar finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Millan also finished with 17 points on 6-8 shooting, that included 3-5 from behind the arc. Sole chipped in with 14 points. Purdue was led by Dominique Oden who had 11 points and Ashley Morissette who had 10. Maine shot 48 percent from the floor compared to just 31 percent for Purdue. Maine also shot 50 percent from three point range (7-14) and 77 percent from the line (10-13), while Purdue struggled shooting 17 percent from long range (3-17) and 58 percent from the line (14-24).
Maine will now face Mississippi State out of the SEC for the tournament championship Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs, who came in #11 in the preseason national rankings, defeated Villanova 108-62 in the second game Friday night. Villanova faces Purdue in the consolation game Saturday at 5 p.m.
On the mens side, the Maine Black Bears gave a great effort but ended up falling 80-67 on the road in Blacksburg, Virginia to ACC Virginia Tech.
Wes Myers came off the bench and led Maine (0-1) with 18 points and was the only Black Bear in double figures.
Zach Leday led the Hokies with 20 points, while Ahmed Hill had 14, Justin Robinson 13, and Chris Clarke had 12. Virginia Tech (1-0) led by as many as 25 points late in the second half.
Maine will travel to face LongWood University on Sunday at 2 p.m. while Virginia Tech will host High Point on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Womens Basketball Box Score
PUR 6 12 17 12- 47
UME 25 11 15 16- 67
Field Goals: Purdue 15-49, 30.6% Maine 25-52, 48.1%
Three point goals: Purdue 3-17 Maine 7-14
Turnovers: Purdue 17 Maine 16
Points off turnovers: Purdue 10 Maine 24
