Junior guard Sarah Talon had a game-high and season-high 19 points (13 in the second half) on Wednesday night, helping to lead the University of Maine Black Bears to a 57-53 non-conference women’s basketball win over the Rhode Island Rams at the Ryan Center in Kingston, Rhode Island.
It was a very tightly contested game throughout with nine ties and 10 lead changes, and neither team having more than a five point advantage. Rhode Island had an early 7-2 lead in the first 3:31 of the opening quarter, before Maine stormed back to grab a 16-15 lead after one period on the strength of a late Paula Gallego three-pointer. The Rams matched their biggest lead of the night at five in the second (29-24), and took a 29-26 edge to the halftime break. The Black Bears (2-1) were balanced in the opening 20 minutes getting seven points from Gallego, six from Talon and Caroline Bornemann, and five points off the bench from Sera Hodgson.
Maine regained a short-lived lead (31-29) scoring the first five points of the third quarter on a layup by Talon and a three-pointer by Olivia Rockwood, before URI scored the next five unanswered and would take a slight 46-43 advantage to the fourth. Gallego and Talon came up huge in the final 10 minutes, each scoring seven points to combine for all 14 of the Black Bear points. The Rams went on top for the final time on a layup by Howa Komara with 5:26 left, but then didn’t score again until their was 43 seconds remaining (4:43 scoring drought). Talon, who put her team ahead for good on a layup with 5:04 left on the clock, sealed it by forcing a foul right at the shot clock buzzer with 15 seconds left and hit 1-2 from the line.
Talon was 8-9 from the floor and also added three rebounds and two steals in the Maine win. Gallego had 14 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Bornemann chipped in nine points, five rebounds, and five assists. Hodgson was also key by contributing eight points on 3-5 shooting (2-3 three-pointers) in 21 minutes off the Black Bears bench. Harsimran Kaur and Anaelle Dutat were the leading scorers for Rhode Island with 11 and 10 points respectively. The Rams, out of the Atlantic 10, fall to 2-2 on the season with their two losses coming against the projected top two teams from America East (Maine, Albany). URI only went 10-18 from the free throw line that ultimately made up the difference in the defeat, while Maine made 4-5. The Black Bears, who were playing their first road game of the early season, now returns back home to Orono to take on Harvard from the Ivy League in the Pit on Sunday at 12 p.m.
Maine looks to inbound the ball during a season opening win over La Salle in Orono on November 4. The Black Bears went on the road for the first time and defeated Rhode Island 57-53 on Wednesday night, November 13. Photo by Chris LessnerÂ
