In a high scoring affair at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, Blanca Millan took over the game in overtime and finished with a career high 36 points to lead the University of Maine to a 102-96 win over Brown in women’s basketball non-conference action Saturday afternoon.
Brown (6-6) led most of the first half, shooting nearly 60 percent in the first 20 minutes. The visiting Bears led 26-16 early in the second quarter, before a 12-2 Maine run capped off with a Millan three pointer tied it at 28-28. A trio of three pointers on three consecutive possessions from Browns Erika Steeves put the Bears back in control by as many as 12, before Maine closed the half on a 6-2 spurt to cut the lead to 45-39 at the break. Steeves recorded her 1,000th career point in the first half.
In the third Maine (7-2) came out hot scoring eight straight points to take a 47-45 lead. Later with the score tied at 55, Brown scored five in a row to regain a five point lead. Maine got within 60-59 at the end of the third, and then regained the lead 65-63 early in the fourth when Millan made a steal and hit a layup. Parise Rossignol lit it up in the final quarter of regulation, scoring 10 of the first 12 Maine points in the stanza and the Bears built the lead to 84-68. Brown came charging back, ending the fourth overall on a 20-4 run and 17-2 over the final four minutes, and tied the game at 88 with 11 seconds left on a Steeves shot in the paint after Millan missed a layup on the other end. Maines Tanesha Sutton missed a jumper with 1.7 seconds left sending the game to an extra five minutes.
Millan controlled the overtime after Steeves put Brown up with a three pointer to open it up. Millan scored 10 of the Black Bears 14 overtime points, with two jumpers, a three pointer, and three from the foul line as Maine won their fifth straight game. Millan filled up the stat sheet, adding seven rebounds, six assists, five steals, and three blocks to her game high and career high point total. Rossignol also had a career high in points with 25, adding seven rebounds. Sutton had a double double with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Dor Saar added 10 points and a career high in assists with 11. Steeves had 30 points and 12 rebounds for Brown. Justine Gaziano added 15, Shayna Mehta 14, and Taylor Will chipped in 13 points. Former Bangor High School standout Mary Butler added 13 points as well.
Maine won the turnover battle only committing eight to 15 for Brown, outscoring their opponent 28-15 off those mistakes. Brown ended up shooting 51 percent for the game from the floor, including making 14 three pointers (14-34). Maine shot 46 percent, and made 10 three pointers (10-31). Steeves made 11-15 of field goals and 7-9 from long distance, and Millan was 14-27 and 5-12 from the arc.
Maine travels to North Carolina next Saturday to battle the current #10 team in the country and undefeated NC State with a 6 pm tipoff scheduled.
BRO 22 23 15 28 8- 96
UME 16 23 20 29 14- 102
