Maine guard Blanca Millan makes a pass during action on Friday, March 15, 2019 in the America East championship game against Hartford at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco (click to enlarge)
BANGOR, Maine- There was a familiar feeling inside the Cross Insurance Center on Friday evening. That is because the Hartford Hawks and Maine Black Bears were playing in the America East championship game. Again. Different year, but still same result. Maine put four players in double figures and led from start to finish to pull away from Hartford 68-48, and claim the title for a second year in a row before a crowd of 3,234. It is the first back to back conference championship and back to back NCAA appearances for the women’s team since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons.
Maine (25-7) started red hot. Back to back three pointers by Parise Rossignol, followed by baskets from Fanny Wadling and Blanca Millan forced Hartford into a timeout just three minutes in already down 10-0. “When you hit your first one, it really helps moving forward. When I hit my first two, it was definitely a confidence booster”, said Rossignol. The Hawks regrouped though, scoring eight of the next 10 points helped by three pointers from Lindsey Abed and Sierra Decosta to cut it to 12-8. But Rossignol knocked down another one from behind the arc, and Maddy McVicar also added one and the Bears led 18-8 after the opening quarter. Maine widened the lead to 29-15 in the second, before Hartford got seven points from Decosta to end the first half on an 11-3 run to make it 32-26 at the break.
The Hawks scored the first four points of the third quarter to trim the deficit to just a pair at 32-30. Maine responded with a 9-0 run on a pair of three point plays by Tanesha Sutton, wedged around a three pointer from Millan. “Just kept being aggressive. Keep attacking, keep attacking that is what my teammates kept telling me”, said Sutton. Hartford got within seven later in the quarter, but a three pointer from Rossignol and a bucket from Sutton pushed it back to a 13 point Black Bears lead after three. The closest Hartford would get the rest of the way is 10 points early in the fourth. A 13-5 spurt by the hosts put the game away, highlighted by three pointers from Rossignol, Millan, and sophomore guard Dor Saar to make it 64-46. The 20 point final margin was the largest Maine lead in the contest.
Blanca Millan (22), Fanny Wadling (51), and Dor Saar (middle) celebrate Maines 68-48 win over Hartford on Friday, March 15, 2019 in the America East championship game at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco (click to enlarge)
Maine was led by Millan. The America East Player of the Year had 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Rossignol had five three pointers and finished with 15 points. Sutton had 12 points and nine rebounds. Wadling added a double double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and six assists. Maine hit 12-33 on the evening from three point range, and also shot 53-58 from the foul line in the three AE playoff wins (6-6 Friday). Hartford (23-10) was led by Decosta and Ella Awobajo who had 18 points a piece. Decosta added four rebounds, while Awobajo added seven. Both teams had 12 turnovers, but Maine won the points off the errors 18-6. The Black Bears also outscored the Hawks 15-4 in second chance points. Hartford head coach Kim McNeill said, “First off like to give credit to Maine. They are a very good team, they just have alot of weapons. They don’t make alot of mistakes, and they play very very well together. My team has played hard all year long, and that is what makes this loss so hard to swallow. I know this hurts, but I don’t want them to forget about what we’ve done and what we have accomplished. The difference between this and last year is we aren’t done yet. With us finishing second we are gonna go to the NIT, and we are gonna make some noise and we are gonna play hard and we are fully committed to representing this conference to the best of our abilities”.
Hartford had a fine 2018-19 season, handing Maine their only conference loss during America East regular season play. The Hawks being the runners-up will likely get them a WNIT bid. Maine, winners of 14 games in a row, will await word on where and who they will be playing when the NCAA Tournament gets underway the end of next week. The NCAA women’s selection is Monday at 7 pm on ESPN. Maine hasn’t lost since a 49-46 setback back on January 16 on the road in Hartford. Head coach Amy Vachon said, “First, congratulations to Hartford. Kim (McNeil) does a fantastic job with them. We got off to that quick start, but we knew they were gonna come back and give us a run and they certainly did. Hats off to them and their seniors, they are a really good group. And for us, I am so proud of our kids. This year was so different than last year in so many ways. Last year, noone expected us to do anything and we found our way to win a championship. And then this year we were expected to be here and that is a different challenge when you have never been there before. Our kids embraced it and took one day at a time. I could go down individually, but every single kid on our team I am just so proud of them”.
Members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team celebrate their America East championship on Friday, March 15, 2019 in Bangor. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco (click to enlarge)
HAR 8 18 12 10- 48
UME 18 14 19 17- 68
Field goal percentage- HAR 36.7 (18-49) UME 42.4 (25-59)
Three point percentage- HAR 40.0 (6-15) UME 36.4 (12-33)
Free throw percentage- HAR 66.7 (6-9) UME 100.0 (6-6)
Rebounds- HAR 27 UME 41
Turnovers- HAR 12 UME 12
