BANGOR, Me- Parise Rossignol returned from an injury she suffered last weekend leading three players in double figures, as the Maine women’s basketball team rolled over UNH 67-46 in the America East opener at the Cross Insurance Center Wednesday night.
Maine (8-6, 1-0 America East) never trailed in this one, building a 10 point first quarter lead and 14 at the half. The Wildcats who were down 20 in the third quarter cut it to 15 about four minutes into the fourth quarter, but Maine went on a 10-0 run over the next 2:44 to take their biggest lead and pull away to end a four game losing streak. Maine head coach Amy Vachon said, “Always good to get a win. I thought we had some really nice possessions, and went on some nice runs to start the game and start the second half. I thought Tanesha (Sutton) really played a great game, that is a great stat line. And for Parise (Rossignol) 18 points in 24 minutes that is pretty good too. Really proud of Blanca (Millan) she is really under the weather, didn’t really want to put her back in, but felt like I needed to there and she scored eight points in a row”.
Rossignol led the way with 18 points, on 8-9 shooting from the floor in 24 minutes played. Tanesha Sutton had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. Blanca Millan also added 13 points and five rebounds. Rossignol had taken a hard fall in a loss at Fordham last Saturday, missing the last part of that game, and the game Sunday in the loss to Chattanooga. “I felt great out there”, added Rossignol. The Bears also saw the return of 6-1 forward Fanny Wadling, who had missed the last 10 games battling a concussion. “With Fanny’s (Wadling) presence on the floor, you have to defend her cause she is a great post player and it puts alot of pressure on our opponents we play, so it is a little relief for me”, said Sutton. Wadling had four points, three rebounds, and two assists in 21 minutes in her first game back.
For UNH (3-11, 0-1), former Greely high school standout Ashley Storey had 20 points and six rebounds. The Wildcats have struggled thus far this season with inexperience and injuries. Providence transfer 6-2 forward Maggie Ahearn was expected to be the inside presence for UNH, but had her season ended with an ACL injury against Central Connecticut State after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations. Also lost to injury two games in was freshman forward Faith Bonett. Head coach Maureen Magarity said, “I knew we were gonna be young and inexperienced, it is part of re-building, but these injuries have really thrown a wrench into things, and obviously we don’t have much depth and I think that has been the toughest challenge. I think right now we are working on rotations, and obviously with our rebounding, those two kids were post players so we are really struggling on the boards, and just finding that second consistent scorer has been tough. Ashley (Storey) has been unbelievable, I can’t say enough about what Ashley is doing, I mean she is trying to put the team on her shoulders and she has, it’s just tough”.
Maine continues America East play and at home when they welcome in the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Retreivers to the Cross Insurance Center Saturday at 1 pm.
