Anne Simon led three players in double figures with a game high 21 points on Saturday afternoon, as the Maine Black Bears built a big first half lead and then held off a furious comeback by the Stony Brook Seawolves to earn a 61-55 America East women’s basketball win at Long Island Federal Credit Union Arena in Stony Brook, New York.
Maine started out red hot and never trailed. A 9-0 run sparked by three-pointers by Simon, Olivia Rockwood, and Caroline Bornemann made it 11-2. The guests shot 62.5% from the floor in the first 10 minutes taking a 24-8 advantage. Maine had their biggest lead of the day 35-12 on a Bornemann layup with 5:23 left in the second. Stony Brook ended the opening 20 minutes on an 8-2 run to make it 37-20 at the break. The Black Bears shot 51% and hit six three-pointers in the first half.
The second half was much different however, as the home standing Seawolves would take advantage of some Black Bears turnovers and slowly chip away. After Maine had taken an 18 point lead twice in the first two minutes of the third quarter, Stony Brook would slice it to 11 twice which is the same deficit they had headed to the fourth at 51-40. The hosts would force a Maine timeout by scoring the first seven points of the final period, and would cut it to a single point twice on a Anastasia Warren layup and a jumper by Earlette Scott with 3:32 left. The Bears responded with 1-2 from the line from Alba Orois and a Simon layup to push it back to four. With the score 57-55, Maeve Carroll picked the perfect time for her only basket of the day with a layup in the paint off an Orois assist. Maine put it away on 1-2 efforts from the line from Orois and Simon in the final 30 seconds, ending the 11 game win streak for Stony Brook and also sending them to their first home loss of the season (now 11-1).
Simon added 10 rebounds, one assist, and two steals to her game high point total in the win. Orois had 16 points, four rebounds, and six assists. Bornemann finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Rockwood also played a solid game with nine points. Carroll only had three points, but dominated the glass with 11 rebounds and three blocks and also dished out six assists. Maine is now 13-10, 10-3 in America East with seven straight wins. The Black Bears are also 7-0 on the road in conference games. Warren had 13 points, Scott 12, and Gigi Gonzalez 11 points in the loss for Stony Brook. The Seawolves fall to 20-3, 11-2 in America East. It is their first loss since a 54-49 road setback to NJIT in the conference opener back on December 30. Maine will host Hartford in their next game at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
