Maine forward Fanny Wadling and Albany forward Heather Forster jump things off to begin an America East semifinal game played at Memorial Gym in Orono on Sunday, March 10, 2019. Photo by Chris Lessner (click to enlarge)
ORONO, Maine- The University of Maine women’s basketball team overcame a very sluggish start falling behind by 12 points in the first quarter Sunday afternoon, but rallied from behind and put three players in double figures to take down Albany 66-51 in the America East semifinals played at Memorial Gym (the Pit) before a very loud and electric 1,233 fans. The Black Bears advance to their fourth straight America East title game, hosting Hartford for a second straight season in Bangor.
The visitors from Albany (13-18) silenced a very loud crowd in the opening quarter, shooting 50 percent from the floor (7-14), and holding Maine to just a 25 percent clip (4-16) and taking a 17-5 lead and 19-9 by the end of the opening 10 minutes. The Bears still trailed 23-12 with 6:28 left in the second quarter before making a run. Maine got a four point play by Parise Rossignol that sparked a 15-5 spurt over a span of 2:53 to cut it to 28-27. Dor Saar hit a three pointer to put the Bears back in front for the first time since it was 3-2 with 3:10 to go in the half. Rossignol who has struggled shooting the last four games said, “Shooters have to have a short memory, that is kind of my mindset. I don’t care if I am 20 for 30 or 3 for 30, if I am open I am gonna shoot it. It is no secret I haven’t been shooting the ball greatly lately, but I have been putting the work in and I am still confident”. Maine took the lead into the halftime locker room 34-32.
A pair of baskets from Albany guard Kyara Frames put the Great Danes back in front 36-34 to start the third. Maine however would jump back in front despite a cold 1-10 start from the floor in the quarter, on back to back three pointers from Saar and Blanca Millan. The 12-2 run to finish the quarter had the Bears up 46-38 at the end of the third. Maine continued that run when Tanesha Sutton converted a three point play to start the fourth for the largest lead to that point 49-38. Albany cut the lead to seven on several occasions in the final quarter, but a huge three pointer from Rossignol with just over two minutes left put the hosts up 10 and ended any thoughts of a Great Danes comeback. The Black Bears hit 8-10 from the line down the stretch to widen the lead to 16, and winning by a 15 point margin. Maine head coach Amy Vachon said, “Kudos to Albany. I knew we were gonna be in a battle. Proud of our team and how they responded, that first quarter was tough we couldn’t stop them and we couldn’t hit a shot. We didn’t shoot the ball great, but we played really hard and made the plays we needed to down the stretch. This crowd was amazing, it was just incredible. We couldn’t be happier for our kids, and just really proud of them”.
Sutton filled up the stat sheet with 21 points, seven rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal for 24-7 Maine. Millan had 16 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Saar also added 16 points, with four rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Rossignol finished with nine points, and had two big three pointers in the game. Frames had 20 points and five rebounds for Albany, while Forster had 19 points and seven rebounds. Neither team shot well overall from the floor, as Albany shot 38 percent and Maine was 31 percent. The Black Bears made 24-26 from the foul line, while the Great Danes went 8-11. Maine has made 42-47 from the charity stripe in their two playoff games combined. Albany first year head coach Colleen Mullen said, “This was definitely a fun environment to play. I am so proud of my team, so proud of how far we’ve come this season. I told them in the locker room how proud I was of them, especially locked in defensively in the first half. Give Maine credit they have great players, extremely good guard play and we couldn’t keep them off the glass. They got some big offensive rebounds that turned into baskets for them. We knew it was going to be a battle, we had two pretty good matchups with them last two times we had played them. We had great momentum in the first half, but just couldn’t finish the game”.
Maine, winners of 13 games in a row, will host the Hartford Hawks (23-9) Friday at 5 pm at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor in the America East championship game with a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The Black Bears defeated the Hawks 74-65 in last years title game, also played at the CIC in Bangor. This season the teams split their two regular season meetings, with each team winning on their home court.
ALB 19 13 6 13- 51
UME 9 25 12 20- 66
Rebounds- Albany 35 Maine 41
Turnovers- Albany 16 Maine 11
