The University of Maine basketball teams are winding down their regular season, and both were playing the University of New Hampshire on Wednesday night. The women played at home, while the men battled the Wildcats on the road.
In the women’s game at the Pit in Memorial Gymnasium in Orono- Anne Simon returned to the lineup and had 19 points in 30 minutes in her first game since re-aggravating an ankle injury on January 21 as Maine beat UNH 80-67. The Wildcats had two early leads in the first quarter, before the Black Bears took the lead for good 6-4 on a three-pointer by Caroline Bornemann. Bornemann was the leading scorer in the game with 22 points (four 3-pointers). The hosts scored the first 10 points of the second and built a 15 point advantage. They weren’t challenged after that, building as much as a 17 point lead in the second half in clinching home court for the quarterfinal round of the upcoming America East Tournament. Bornemann added seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals to her point total in the win. Adrianna Smith also had 19 points along with Simon. Simon had five steals and four assists, and Smith had seven rebounds. Avery O’Connor had 21 points in the loss for UNH. Adara Groman contributed 16 points, while Breezie Williams also got into double figures with 13 points. The Wildcats fall to 7-20, 2-13 in conference play.
In the men’s game at Lundholm Gym in Durham- UNH put four players in double figures and never trailed in defeating Maine 74-62. Nick Johnson scored the first five points of the game on a layup and a three-pointer, and helped the hosts break ahead 10-2 early on. The Black Bears scored seven straight to get within one point at the 14:07 mark of the first half, but that is as close as the guests would be the rest of the evening. UNH led 35-30 at halftime, and would later extend it to an 18 point advantage three times late in the second half in earning their 13th win overall and eighth in the conference. Kellen Tynes led Maine in the loss with 18 points. Gedi Juozapaitis added 15 points (three 3-pointers), and Kristians Feierbergs chipped in 11 points. Johnson had 20 points in the win for UNH. Clarence Daniels had a double double with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Kyree Brown and Matthew Herasme tallied 15 and 12 points respectively. The Wildcats are now 13-13, 8-6 in America East.
With the win, the women’s team improves to 14-13 overall and 10-5 in America East. They’ll play their regular season finale in the Pit against Binghamton on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. The men’s team is now 11-16, 5-9 in conference play and will face Binghamton on the road on Saturday, before taking on Bryant to finish the regular season next Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Pit.
