The Maine Black Bears had a better offensive effort on Saturday afternoon than their previous four games, but Becca Hittner scored a game high 30 points to lead Drake University to a 94-62 women’s basketball win at the Gulf Coast Showcase in Eustero, Florida.
Maine (2-5) had only averaged 40 points per outing in their last four games in which they only were victorious once. Missing leading scorer Blanca Millan due to injury in a Friday loss to Arizona State, someone else needed to step to the forefront tor the Bears. Drake (5-2) took an early 12 point lead six minutes into action and led by 10 after the opening 10 minutes. Maine got eight of their first 15 points from forward Maeve Carroll. Carroll though along with Anne Simon got into foul trouble making it double as tough for the Black Bears. Simon committed three first quarter fouls, and Carroll committed three in the second quarter and had four in the first half. Dor Saar got the Drake lead into single digits with a three-pointer just over two minutes into the second quarter, but a three-pointer from Hittner late in the quarter gave the Bulldogs their biggest lead to that point 45-27 as they also held a 15 point advantage at halftime.
Another three from Saar cut it down to 11 once again early in the third, but Drake extended it to 21 on a 14-4 run capped off by a long distance three from Sarah Beth Gueldner. Carroll would foul out late in the third, and Maine would only get as close as 15 through three quarters and that as close as they’d get as the Bulldogs would go up as many as 33 in the fourth quarter.
Kira Barra came off the bench to lead Maine in the loss with 12 points on 6-9 shooting. Maddy McVicar had 11 points and four assists, while Carroll finished with 10 points and four rebounds. Saar and Simon also chipped in nine points each, with Saar adding five assists. Drake shot at 56% compared to 39% for Maine. The Black Bears also only had three foul shot attempts (2-3), while the Bulldogs had 22 (17-22). Hittner finished 9-12 from the floor (5-6 three-pointers), and made 7-8 from the foul line while also adding four rebounds to go along with her game high in points. Sara Rhine also added 15 points and four rebounds, and Kierra Collier had 10 points. Maine will face Dayton in their final game at the Showcase on Sunday morning at 11 a.m.
