ORONO- Mataya Gayle scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter on Sunday, and Stina Almqvist had a team-high 17 points in helping to lead the University of Pennsylvania to a 56-52 women’s basketball win over Maine inside the Pit at Memorial Gymnasium.
Maine (1-1) started strong scoring the first seven points of the game on a pair of Paula Gallego baskets and a three-pointer by Oliva Rockwood in the opening 2:15.
A layup by Sarah Talon had the Black Bears up 15-9, before Penn would score the next 11 points unanswered including a three-pointer by Sarah Miller at the end of the first quarter. A fastbreak layup by Ashna Tambe with 5:26 left in the second capped off that 11-0 spurt as the Quakers led 20-15, and they took a 27-20 advantage to the halftime break. Maine only shot 31% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, including 2-17 from three-point range.
Pennsylvania built their lead to as many as nine in the third quarter on another three-pointer by Miller at 37-28, before Maine closed to within one over the final 2:37 of the period on a three-pointer by Rockwood, a basket by Gallego, and one from long range by Caroline Bornemann.
The graduate guard/forward Bornemann gave the Black Bears their first lead since the opening quarter on a layup in the paint 1:06 into the fourth that finished off a 10-0 run. The hosts had a slight edge four other times over the final 10 minutes, the last coming on a short jumper in the paint by Gallego at 47-46 with 2:41 left. Gayle got a layup in the paint 40 seconds later that pushed Penn into the lead for good, as she had three go-ahead baskets for her team over a 2:31 span. Maine had an opportunity to tie it with a pair of three-point attempts by Jaycie Christopher on the same possession with under 40 seconds remaining, but neither one would fall and the Quakers hit four free throws in the final 17 seconds to pick up the road win.
Bornemann led Maine in the loss with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal. She shot 3-10 from the floor over the first three quarters, but hit all five of her shots to keep her team in the game in the fourth. Gallego and Rockwood also got into double figures with 12 points a piece. Gallego added six assists and two steals, while Rockwood hit four 3-pointers. The team finished at 39.6% from the field and 8-33 from beyond the arc. Almqvist chipped in seven rebounds to her team-high point total, while Miller also reached double figures with 10 points as Pennsylvania out of the Ivy League improved to 2-0. Maine heads out on the road for the first time on Wednesday night when they take on Atlantic 10 opponent the University of Rhode Island at 6:35 p.m.
Photo and videos by Chris Lessner
