The University of Maine women’s basketball team hit 15 three-pointers on Thursday night and scored 49 points in the second half, to help pull away from the University of New Hampshire 77-51 in America East play at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. The victory was also the 100th career win with the Black Bears for head coach Amy Vachon.
UNH (3-11, 0-3 America East) enjoyed a pair of four point leads in the first quarter, before Maine started their three-point barrage on two long ones by Anne Simon and Olivia Rockwood for a 10-8 lead at the end of 10 minutes. The Wildcats took their last lead of the game on a basket by Amanda Torres at 17-16 with 5:57 left in the first half. The Black Bears then scored five a row including another three from Simon who had four of the teams six from the arc in the first 20 minutes, and the hosts took a 28-22 advantage into the halftime break.
After another bucket from Torres sliced it to four at the beginning of the the third quarter, Maine caught fire scoring 29 points in the period on nearly perfect shooting (10-11 overall, 5-5 three-pointers) and extending to a 19 point lead headed to the fourth. The Black Bears would lead by as much as 28 in the final 10 minutes to improve to 6-9, 3-2 in conference play.
Simon led the way in the Maine win with a game high 22 points and five rebounds (6-7 three-pointers). Caroline Bornemann added 16 points and knocked in 4-6 from the three-point arc. Rockwood contributed nine points, while both Paula Gallego and Maeve Carroll chipped in eight points a piece. The Black Bears finished at 55% from the floor, and 15-24 from three-point land. They also had 27 assists on 29 baskets, with 14 of those assists from Alba Orois. Bella Stuart led UNH in the loss with 10 points and five rebounds, while Torres finished with seven points. The Wildcats have lost nine in a row and are now 0-7 on the road this season. Maine is at Binghamton to battle the Bearcats on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
