The Yale Bulldogs stormed out to a 30-10 halftime lead on Saturday night, and held off the Maine Black Bears 55-46 in a women’s basketball matchup at Memorial Gym in Orono. It was the home opener for Maine.
Maine (1-2) was ice cold from the floor in the first half, as Yale used an 11-0 first quarter run to take an early 11-2 lead. Jenna Clark hit a pair of three-pointers late in the last 39 seconds of the second, as the Bulldogs stretched it out to the biggest lead of the night 30-10 at halftime. The Black Bears shot 3-25 and 1-7 from three-point land in the first 20 minutes and turned the ball over 13 times. The hosts would come alive in the third quarter using a 13-2 run finished off on a layup by Adrianna Smith to get within eight at 38-30. Yale led 40-32 heading to the fourth. A layup by Sarah Talon early in the fourth is the closest they’d get (40-34), as the guests would pull away again late and Clark hit a three-pointer with 2:01 left that extended the advantage back to 14.
Sera Hodgson had a career high 15 points in the loss. She hit 4-6 from three-point territory, getting into double figures for the first time in her collegiate career. Caroline Bornemann had a double double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Anne Simon left the game with an injury halfway through the third quarter and didn’t return. Clark had 15 points to lead Yale (3-2) out of the Ivy League to their third straight win. Maine will look to bounce back on Monday night when they host Northeastern at 7 p.m.
