The conference home winning streak of 21 straight games ended on Wednesday night for the University of Maine womens basketball team. The visitors and rivals from UNH knocked off the Bears 65-57 in America East play at the Cross Insurance Center. It was the first home America East loss for Maine since a setback to Albany on January 3, 2015.
The first place Wildcats led from start to finish to claim their 12th conference victory (12-1), and improved to 22-4 overall.
UNH built a commanding 37-24 halftime lead. Maine was able to get within four points late in the contest, after being down as much as 43-28 in the third quarter. But the Black Bears came up a little short in falling to 15-14 overall and 8-6 in America East.
Carlie Pogue led the Wildcats with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Brittni Lai added 14 points, two rebounds, two assists, one block, and a steal. Olivia Healy also broke into double digits adding 13 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Sigi Koizar had her second straight double double leading Maine with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Blanca Millan added 14 points, two rebounds, and two steals. Laia Sole also chipped in 11 points.
UNH shot 49 percent from the floor, while Maine shot at 40 percent. Neither team had success from the three point arc, as UNH was 3-12, and Maine was 2-13. UNH was 10-15 from foul line, while Maine was 11-17. Maine was outrebounded 36-28, and both teams took good care of the basketball as Maine committed only eight turnovers, and UNH had 12.
Maine returns to action Saturday when they travel to Albany to take on the Great Danes. The game can be seen live on ESPN 3.
UNH (22-4, 12-1) 18 19 16 12- 65
UME (15-14, 8-6) 13 11 20 13- 57
