Blanca Millan had a game high 26 points Saturday evening, as the Maine Black Bears rolled to a 81-49 victory over the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks at Memorial Gym in Orono in America East women’s basketball action. Maine returned to action after the Athletics Department had been shut down for 2 weeks due to coronavirus concerns.
Maine (13-1, 10-1 America East) fell behind early 4-3, but went on a 14-0 run to take a 13 point lead and never trailed again and held that same advantage after one quarter 22-9. Millan had 12 points in the opening 10 minutes. UMass-Lowell (9-7, 8-5) cut it to nine early in the second quarter, but that is as close as they would be the rest of the day. The Black Bears would push the lead to as many as 17 in the first half, and led 39-26 at the break. The hosts started the third quarter on a 13-2 run to increase the lead to 24, highlighted by long three-pointers by Millan and Kelly Fogarty. Maine held the visitors to just eight points in the third and the Riverhawks never got the lead inside of 21 from that point on, and the Black Bears led by that 24 point margin headed to the fourth quarter. The lead would grow to the largest of the day at 35 in the final quarter, as Maine made it eight straight wins.
Millan added six rebounds, three assists, and four steals to her point total in the win. Maeve Carroll had a double double with 13 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Anne Simon also got into double figures with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Fogarty and Dor Saar both had nine points, with Saar adding five assists and two steals. Denise Solis had 12 points, and Jaliena Sanchez added 10 in the loss for UMass-Lowell. The Black Bears continue to dominate the series between the two teams, now 15-1 all-time. The squads finish off their two game conference series on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.
