The University of Maine women’s basketball team clinched the America East regular season title and the #1 seed for the upcoming conference tournament on Saturday afternoon, getting huge games from both Anne Simon and Adrianna Smith in a 63-46 win over Albany in the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono. The teams were tied with a 13-2 league mark entering the regular season finale, and it is the Black Bears who take the #1 seed for a chance to host throughout postseason.
Both teams held a lead in the first quarter, and a jumper by Kayla Cooper had Albany up 11-9 after 10 minutes. Maine began the second on an 11-0 run on a layup by Sarah Talon, two free throws by Simon, a jumper by Talon, a layup in the paint by Smith, and a three-pointer by Simon to jump in front 20-11. After two free throws by Cooper finished off a 7-1 spurt by the Great Danes to cut it to 21-18, the hosts ran off seven straight on a fastbreak layup by Simon, a three-point play by Smith, and a layup from Caroline Bornemann just before the end of the period to extend it back to 28-18 at halftime.
A layup by Simon about four minutes into the third quarter gave Maine their largest lead to that point at 36-20. Albany had some fight left however, and a three-pointer by Meghan Huerter cut their deficit in half at 40-32. But that is as close as they’d get. The Black Bears would go up as many as 20 late in the fourth quarter, heading into a home America East quarterfinal on Friday on a three game win streak.
Simon led all scorers with 25 points in the Maine victory. She added eight rebounds, five assists, and also shot 9-10 at the free throw line. Smith fell just shy of a triple double with 23 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, five blocks, and three steals. Bornemann chipped in nine points, as the Black Bears finish the regular season at 21-9 and 14-2 in America East. Cooper had a double double in the loss for Albany with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Lilly Phillips contributed 11 points, while Huerter finished with eight. The Great Danes end up at 24-5 and 13-3 in the conference, and earned the #2 seed as they’ll host #7 NJIT in the quarterfinals. #1 Maine takes on #8 UMass-Lowell in their quarterfinal matchup at 5 p.m. Friday at the Pit. The Black Bears won both regular season matchups over the Riverhawks by scores of 55-43 and 68-49.
Recap by Chris LessnerÂ
