Virginia Commonwealth outscored Maine 30-18 in the third quarter on Friday night, and outlasted the Black Bears 81-77 in a non-conference women’s basketball matchup played at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia.
The Black Bears build a nine point first quarter lead with a 7-0 run, and would stretch their advantage to 27-15 on a layup by Kaliyah Sain with 5:52 left in the first half. The Rams came charging back, ending the second period on a run of 15-5 to slice the deficit to 32-30 at the break. After VCU jumped in front early in the third quarter, Adrianna Smith gave Maine their final lead with a jumpshot at 40-39. The hosts once again ended a quarter strong, as they used a run of 21-10 to take a 60-50 advantage to the fourth. The Black Bears got within three a couple times late, but the Rams hit 5-7 at the foul line down the stretch to hold on for the victory.
Katarina Knezevic led VCU with 19 points. Ann Zachariah and Cyriah Griffin put in 16 points a piece, and Patricia Augustin contributed 12 points as the Rams out of the Atlantic 10 Conference improved their record to 2-1. Sain had a game-high and a career-high 26 points in the loss for Maine. Sain shot 9-18 from the floor in also recording a double double with 10 rebounds. Smith finished with 22 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Asta Blauenfeldt also got into double figures as she chipped in with 17 points. Sain (6-11) and Blauenfeldt (5-14) combined to shoot 11-25 on three-point attempts. After a slow start from the arc in the first half, the Black Bears knocked down 9-19 from long distance in the second half to stay in the game. Maine falls to 0-3 and will return home to host Stonehill College on Monday night at 6 p.m. on Skip Chappelle Court inside Memorial Gymnasium in Orono.
