The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams both opened their 2023-24 regular season on Monday evening, but both would fall on the road in non-conference action.
At M & T Bank Arena in Hamden, Connecticut- The Quinnipiac Bobcats outscored Maine 42-22 over the course of the second and third quarters combined, taking a 70-57 women’s basketball win over the Black Bears. After trailing 7-2 early on, the guests went on a 17-5 run capped off by a three-pointer by Sera Hodgson to take their biggest lead of the evening 19-12 after the opening 10 minutes. QU took the lead for good on a Karson Martin jumper in the second and led 33-31 at halftime. In a tie game in the third quarter, the Bobcats broke it open with a 14-1 spurt and would eventually build that advantage to as many as 19 in the fourth to secure the opening night victory. Anne Simon led Maine in the loss with 11 points and six rebounds. Sarah Talon and Adrianna Smith had 10 points a piece, with Smith adding nine rebounds. Anna Foley had 21 points, Jackie Grisdale 17, and Ella O’Donnell 16 in the win for Quinnipiac out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
At Halton Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina- Despite a late first half run that got them back in the game, the Maine Black Bears men’s basketball team would come up short to the University of North Carolina-Charlotte 49ers 69-52. Maine kept it close early on, before Charlotte used a run of 23-9 to take their biggest led of the first half 34-18. The Bears chipped away before halftime with a 9-0 spurt of their own on a jumper by Quion Burns, a dunk by Burns, a three-pointer by A.J. Lopez, and a jumper by Jaden Clayton to slice it to 34-27. They would get as close as six, but Charlotte out of the American Athletic Conference would eventually pull away and go up by as many as 20 late in the game to take the victory. Lopez was the only one in double figures in the Maine loss scoring 13 points. Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeish added nine points, and Peter Filipovity had seven. Nik Graves led the 49ers with 15 points, Dishon Jackson had 13, and Lu’cye Patterson added 11.
The Maine women’s team is back in action on the road in Philadelphia as they take on Lasalle University on Thursday at 4:30 p.m., while the men’s team opens up their home schedule when they face the University of Maine-Presque Isle on Wednesday night at the Pit in Orono at 6 p.m.
Story by Chris LessnerÂ
