Blanca Millan led all scorers once again with 22 points on Wednesday afternoon, as the Maine Black Bears rallied then held on late to defeat the Hartford Hawks 52-49 in America East women’s basketball action in West Hartford, Connecticut.
Hartford (0-2, 0-2 America East), who was beaten by Maine by 28 on Tuesday, exploded out of the gates taking an 11-2 lead about six minutes in. Maine was able to get the lid off the basket after a 1-7 start from the floor and cut it to 13-9 at the end of the first quarter. The visitors got within one 3:45 into the second period, but the home standing Hawks still led 27-22 at the break. Down 33-25 in the third, Maine (5-0, 2-0) used a 15-6 run to take their first lead of the game and for good at 40-39 on a Millan jumper with 38 seconds left, and led 42-41 headed for the fourth. Dor Saar hit a long three-pointer for the largest Black Bear advantage of the day 50-45 with 2:59 to play. Two from the line by Breyenne Bellerand, and then a jumper by Nina Farkic would cut the deficit for Hartford to one with 53 seconds remaining. Maine would turn the ball over on a shot clock violation on the next possession, but then Farkic would travel as the Hawks attempted to take the lead with three seconds showing on the clock. Saar calmly sank two free throws with 1.9 seconds left, and a last second three-pointer to tie it by Abby Streeter would miss and the Bears escaped with their 15th consecutive win.
Millan added six rebounds and five steals to her game high point total in the Maine win. Saar had 13 points, three assists, and two steals while Anne Simon had 10 points and six rebounds. Millan moved past Sigi Koizar for seventh on the all-time scoring list, while Saar moved past Ashley Underwood for third all-time in assists. Farkic had 13 points, eight rebounds, and four assists in the loss for Hartford who has now lost 30 of their last 31 games. Bellerand also chipped in 12 points. The Black Bears are now off for nine days until they travel to New Hampshire to battle the UNH Wildcats on January 2 and 3. It is just the third time in school history that women’s basketball has won their first five games of a season.
