Members of the University of Maine women’s basketball team celebrate their America East championship win over Hartford on March 15. Saturday Maine was at NC State in an opening round NCAA Tournament game. Photo by Anthony Delmonaco
The University of Maine women’s basketball team had a very successful season come to end in the first round of the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year. Kaira Leslie scored a game high 20 points to lead #3 seed North Carolina State to a 63-51 win over the #14 ranked Black Bears Saturday afternoon at James T. Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Maine played much better than in the previous meeting between the two teams back on December 15th when they suffered nearly a 40 point loss (84-46), and was down 33 at halftime. The Bears had four one point leads in the first quarter of action, led by five early points from sophomore point guard Dor Saar. The Wolfpack though took control in the final 3:19 of the quarter going on a 10-0 run to regain a lead they would never relinquish, led by a pair of three pointers from Kiara Leslie and two layups from Aislinn Konig to take a 19-10 lead. The Black Bears got within six twice in the second quarter on a Parise Rossignol three and a jumper by Fanny Wadling. NC State was able to extend to their biggest lead on a seven point run by Kai Crutchfield, on a four point play and then another three just before the halftime buzzer to close out an 11-0 run to make it 39-22 at the half. The two leading scorers for Maine, Blanca Millan and Tanesha Sutton, were a combined 0-12 from the floor with no points in the first half.
The Black Bears got within 11 in the third quarter, and had a chance to cut the lead to 10 at one point when Sutton made a steal and was attempting to score heading to the basket on a fast break. Sutton though lost the ball off her foot and out of bounds, and the Wolfpack extended it back to a 14 point advantage 51-37 at the end of the third quarter. Maine was only able to get within 12 points in the final quarter, while NC State matched their biggest lead of 17 in improving to 27-5 on the season. The loss ends a 14 game Maine winning streak, with their first setback since a 49-46 loss to Hartford on January 16. The Bears did a better job on the boards with a minus nine (38-29), after NCSU outrebounded them 50-26 in the previous meeting in December. The visitors were also held off the foul line in the game with no attempts, as compared to 9-12 for the Wolfpack.
Rossignol led Maine with 19 points and four rebounds. The senior guard and Van Buren, Maine native had five three pointers in her final game as a Black Bear. Saar had 16 points and four rebounds. Wadling chipped in nine points and eight rebounds. Millan and Sutton combined to shoot only 3-23 from the floor, and had seven points between the two after averaging a combined 32 points during the regular season. The two also only shot a combined 7-46 in two games against NC State. The Black Bears end their season at 25-8. Maine will graduate Rossignol and Sutton, but will return three starters in Wadling, Saar, and Millan to attempt a three-peat championship in America East in the 2019-20 season. Leslie added six rebounds for NC State to go along with her game high in points. Elissa Cunane added 16 points and nine rebounds, while Crutchfield had 14 points and five rebounds. NCSU out of the ACC moves on to a second round game Monday night against Kentucky.
UME 10 12 15 14- 51
NCS 19 20 12 12- 63
Field goal %- Maine 33.9 (20-59) NCSU 46.2 (24-52)
Three point %- Maine 29.7 (11-37) NCSU 28.6 (6-21)
Rebounds- Maine 29 NCSU 38
Free Throws- Maine 0-0 (0%) NCSU 9-12 (75%)
Turnovers- Maine 9 NCSU 11
