Anne Simon and Adrianna Smith both recorded double doubles on Thursday evening, in leading the Maine Black Bears to a 58-48 win over LaSalle University in non-conference women’s basketball action at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Maine led for a majority of the game and used a 7-0 run in the first quarter to build an 18-9 lead on a Simon jumper, a three-pointer by Sarah Talon, and layup by Smith. Lasalle (1-1) used their own run with a 15-3 spurt that stretched early into the second for their only lead of the night 24-21. The Black Bears regained momentum and went up for good on another Smith layup in the paint, taking a 34-32 advantage into halftime. Both teams went some long stretches without scoring in the second half as Maine went almost four minutes without any points in the third quarter, while the Explorers didn’t hit the scoreboard for over eight minutes stretching from the third and into the fourth period. A 12-3 run to start that fourth quarter allowed the guests to pull away for their biggest lead of 16, sealing their first victory of the young season.
Simon finished with a game-high 20 points and also had 10 rebounds, two assists, and four steals for Maine. Smith had 12 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, one steal, and one blocked shot. Also scoring in double figures in the win was Caroline Bornemann with 11 points and seven rebounds, and Talon ended up with nine points and six boards. Aryss Macktoon was the only double digit scorer in the loss for Lasalle out of the Atlantic 10 with 13 points. Maine (1-1) takes on another team from the Atlantic 10 on Sunday when they play their home opener against UMass at 1 p.m. at the Pit in Orono.
Recap by Chris Lessner
