Adrianna Smith led the way with her seventh double double of the season on Sunday afternoon, as Maine women’s basketball outscored Quinnipiac 40-25 in the second half to earn a come from behind 63-55 non-conference win at M&T Bank Arena in Hamden, Connecticut.
The Black Bears led 15-12 early in the second quarter, before the Bobcats ended the first half on an 18-8 run to take a 30-23 advantage at the break. After Quinnipiac built their biggest lead of the day at 34-23 early in the third, Maine used a 10-0 spurt finished off by a layup from Asta Blauenfeldt to pull within one. The hosts would push it back to eight scoring ths next seven points, before the Bears sliced the margin again at 45-43 heading to the fourth on a three-pointer by freshman Lala Woods and a three point play by Smith. Maine took over the lead for good when Smith scooped in a driving layup with 49 seconds to play. Blauenfeldt iced it by hitting 4-4 from the line over the final 12 seconds, securing the first ever win for her team over the Bobcats (0-5 previously).
Ella Ryan led Quinnipiac in the loss with 17 points. The Bobcats, out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, drop to 5-4 on the season. Smith filled up the stat sheet for Maine. The redshirt senior forward had a career-high 20 rebounds to go along with 18 points, three assists, two steals, and two blocked shots. Blauenfeldt added 15 points. In her collegiate debut, Woods chipped in eight points (two 3-pointers) in 14 minutes. The Black Bears (4-8), who snap their three game losing streak, will play their last non-conference contest of the season next Sunday at Harvard.
Photos courtesy of UMaine Athletics
