ORONO- The Princeton Tigers went on a 10-0 run that started in the third quarter and lasted into the fourth on Friday night, and would pull away for a 65-51 non-conference women’s basketball win over the Maine Black Bears at Memorial Gymnasium.
Both teams held a three point lead in the first quarter, with the visitors from Princeton holding an 11-10 advantage after the opening 10 minutes. Maine regained a one point edge in the second on a pair of free throws from Sarah Talon, before the Tigers went on a 9-3 run to jump back ahead 27-22 on a three-pointer from Kaitlyn Chen. The Black Bears finished the half strong including getting seven straight points from Caroline Bornemann to cut it to a one point deficit at the break 29-28.
After Princeton increased their lead back to five at 37-32 in the third quarter, Talon converted a big three point play to cut it to just two points but that is as close as Maine would be the remainder of the night. The Tigers scored the final eight points of the the third, and a bucket from Julia Cunningham to start the fourth capped off a 10-0 spurt for a 47-35 advantage. The lead would go to 15 at 54-39 (17-4 run). The Black Bears made one more push on a layup by Adrianna Smith, a three-pointer by Olivia Rockwood, and then after a Princeton turnover a basket in the paint from Paula Gallego made it 54-46. The backcourt pressure late though by Maine was broken easily by the Tigers that led to some easy baskets eventually taking as much as a 16 point lead to clinch the road win.
Smith would lead Maine in the loss with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Bornemann finished with nine points and five rebounds, Gallego had eight points, while Talon and Sera Hodgson put in seven points a piece. Chen had 15 points and five rebounds to lead Princeton to the victory. Cunningham had 13 points, Grace Stone had 10, and Ellie Mitchell was big on the boards with 12 rebounds while also contributing seven points and eight steals. The Tigers out of the Ivy League improve to 4-2. The Black Bears fall to 3-5 and head back on the road to take on Rhode Island on Sunday at 1 p.m.
All photos in this recap are courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco
