ORONO- The University of Maine built an early 18 point lead, only to see Albany come back and take a one point lead late, but a layup by Caroline Bornemann with eight seconds remaining lifted the Black Bears to an exciting and tense 50-49 victory in America East women’s basketball action in the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The loss by the Great Danes is their first conference defeat of the season.
In their first meeting since Albany won the America East Championship on the same court last March, it was Maine taking advantage of a cold start by the Great Danes. The Black Bears scored the first seven points, and then after the guests got their first basket they would run off 13 in row helped by back to back three-pointers by Jaycie Christopher and Sera Hodgson to make it 20-2. Maine led 22-6 after the opening 10 minutes, as Albany shot 3-15 (1-11 start). The Great Danes got into their game much better in the second shooting 8-13 (66%), and an 8-0 run before the break would slice their deficit to 33-25 at halftime.
Albany continued that run to 11-0 on a three-point play by Kayla Cooper to open the third quarter cutting the lead down to five. Maine would extend the advantage back to 10 at 40-30 on a three-pointer from Olivia Rockwood, before the Great Danes used another run this time 6-0 on a basket from Fatima Lee and a 4-4 effort from the line by Freja Werth to end the period to make it 42-39 heading to the fourth. The Black Bears then had a long stretch in the final period where they didn’t score, allowing Albany to eventually find their first lead of the afternoon. A move down low by Adrianna Smith with 8:30 left made it 46-41 Maine. The hosts then went the next 7:45 without a single point. A jumper by Ellen Hahne and a short jumper from Cooper made it a one point game. Morgan Haney had a chance to give the Great Danes the lead with two from the foul line with 3:02 remaining, but would miss both. Cooper though, who was huge all afternoon, made a move down the lane and hit a layup over Smith with 1:45 to go for a 47-46 Albany lead. After a turnover by Hodgson, Cooper would miss a shot and Christopher grabbed the rebound. Maine finally ended the long scoring drought when Smith hit a layup over Helena Haegerstrand to regain the lead with 45 seconds left. Cooper responded just 10 seconds later for the Albany lead again. The Black Bears got a good look on the other end when Bornemann would miss in the paint, but the rebound came to Rockwood who called timeout. The game winning play started with 11.8 seconds showing on the clock, as Christopher inbounded to Smith near the Maine bench. Smith made a pass to Bornemann near the basket who went from left to right under the hoop for a reverse layup over Heagerstrand for the one point edge with 8.1 seconds to play. On the final possession, Albany got the ball to Hahne near the foul line. Hahne froze and waited for someone to cut to the basket, but noone did. By the time Hahne made a move she put up a shot down the left side of the lane that went off the backboard and didn’t touch the rim. The shot though wouldn’t of counted as the buzzer had already sounded to end the game.
Smith fell just one rebound short of another double double in the Maine win. She finished with 22 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots to lead the way. Bornemann had nine points, six rebounds, and three assists and of course what was the biggest shot of the game. Christopher chipped in seven points and five rebounds, Paula Gallego added four, and Rockwood along with Hodgson each had a three-pointer for three points. Cooper led Albany in the loss with 23 points, six rebounds, and two blocks. Haegerstand contributed eight points and Lee finished with seven. The Great Danes have their eight game win streak snapped in their first America East defeat, falling to 14-9 overall and 8-1 in conference play. Both teams finished under 40% shooting- Maine 39.6 and Albany 37.7, while the Black Bears had a 37-26 rebounding advantage and hit 5-13 from the three-point arc while the Great Danes went 0-14. Maine improves their record to 11-9 with their third straight win, and 7-1 in America East. The Black Bears will host Bryant University Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Recap/Photos/Videos by Chris Lessner
ALB (14-9, 8-1) 6 19 14 10- 49
UME (11-9, 7-1) 22 11 9 8- 50
Rebounds- Albany 26, Maine 37
Free throws- Albany 9-12, Maine 7-8
Turnovers- Albany 10, Maine 17
Three-pointers- Albany: none/ Maine: Bornemann, Smith, Hodgson, Rockwood, Christopher
Videos below- 1) Caroline Bornemann game winning layup 2) Maine defense holds Albany on final possession 3) Bornemann postgame 4) Adrianna Smith postgame 5) Jaycie Christopher postgame 6) Maine head coach Amy Vachon postgame
