ORONO, Maine- Blanca Millan had a career high 28 points, 16 in first half, as the Maine Black Bears womens basketball team took home third place in the tip off tournament with a 76-51 win over Harvard at Memorial Gymnasium Saturday evening.
Millan was 7-7 shooting in the first half, and added to that with a 5-6 clip in the second half as Maine improved to 1-1.
Maine started slow, with four turnovers and a 1-7 start from the field in the first four minutes as the Crimson took an 8-3 lead. But the Bears came alive. Julie Brosseau started a 14-0 run with a three pointer, followed by a short jumper and layup from Millan, another three and a pair of free throws by Brosseau, finished off with a Millan steal and layup would make it 17-8 Black Bears. Maine head coach Amy Vachon said, “I was just really pleased on at how they came out. It was really deflating after yesterdays game and not being able to make a basket”.
Harvard (0-2), cut the Maine lead to just a single point several times in the second quarter. A Fanny Wadling three, a baseline jumper from Tanesha Sutton, a Millan shot in the paint, and a Brosseau three helped Maine finish off the first half on a 12-4 run to take a 42-33 lead at the break. “Yeah we were kinda trading baskets with them for a while, and thats not the game we wanted to get into with Harvard because that’s what they wanna do. Fortunately for us we were making our shots, so it kinda worked out”, added Vachon.
The relentlessness of the Black Bears continued into the third quarter. A Millan layup, a three from Parise Rossignol, a Millan layup off a two on one break with Sutton, and a Wadling baseline jumper would make it 51-33 Maine early in the third quarter. Maine would increase the lead to 20, and held it to 18 at the end of three. Harvard only managed 1-18 shooting in the third stanza. “We were ready after a tough loss like yesterday. We knew we had to make those shots. Everyone trusts our shooters, we have great shooters. We knew we were gonna have alot of open shots, we were ready”, said Millan.
The Bears continued to pile on in the final quarter, as did Millan. Millans layup and three pointer, followed up with a three from freshman guard Dor Saar would put Maine up 25. Maine built the lead to as many as 28, and used the bench for most of the final six or seven minutes.
Brosseau finished with 13 points, while Saar had 11. Millan added five rebounds to her career night in points. The Bears shot 44 percent from the floor, after a poor 26 percent clip in Friday nights loss to Tulane.
Madeline Raster was the only player in double figures for Harvard with 10. Sydney Skinner added eight points and five rebounds. The Crimson shot just 24 percent from the floor.
Dayton took the tournament title by defeating Tulane on Saturday afternoon 71-65.
Maine returns to action Tuesday when they welcome in Bryant to the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor for a 7 p.m. contest.
UH (0-2) 10 23 7 11- 51
UM (1-1) 17 25 16 18- 76
Field goals- Harvard 14-59, 23.7% Maine 28-63, 44.4%
Three pointers- Harvard 4-22, 18.2% Maine 13-30, 43.3%
Free throws- Harvard 19-23, 82.6% Maine 7-8, 87.5%
Turnovers- Harvard 12 Maine 7
