Adrianna Smith scored 23 of her game-high 25 points in the second half on Thursday night, as Maine escaped with a 56-55 America East women’s basketball win over UMBC at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena in Baltimore, Maryland.
After the Retrievers jumped out to a 4-0 lead early on, the Black Bears ended the first quarter on a run of 11-4 to take the advantage for good. Smith and her team had a 25-20 lead at halftime, but the redshirt senior struggled in shooting just 1-9 from the field for only two points. Maine led by as many as 13 in the second half and by 11 with 5:57 left to play as Smith was almost unstoppable after the tough opening 20 minutes. The Retrievers would make a run at it getting within 54-52 with 33 seconds remaining. Sarah Talon (Windham) eventually gave the guests enough breathing room to come out victorious after she was fouled while going up for a shot on the next possession as the shot clock was expiring, and the 59% foul shooter would step to the line to sink two clutch shots with two seconds to go.
Smith shot 7-13 in the final two quarters and recorded her 13th double double of the season by adding 13 rebounds. Asta Blauenfeldt added nine points, Olivia Alvarez and Lizzy Gruber (Gardiner) had six each, while Talon and Lala Woods chipped in five points a piece. Heidi Williams, Jade Tillman, Tiara Bellamy, and Kennedy Austin had 12 points each for UMBC. Tillman also contributed 13 rebounds. The Retrievers fall to 11-12 and 6-5 in America East. The Black Bears have won four in a row in improving to 14-11. They are also only a half game out of second place in the conference at 9-3, and will travel to NJIT to face the Highlanders on Saturday at 12 p.m.
On Skip Chappelle Court at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono, the visitors from UMBC used a big first half run to jump into the lead for good and would pull away from Maine 78-62 in America East men’s basketball action.
The Black Bears raced out early to a 9-4 lead on a Ryan Mabrey three-pointer, but that is when the Retrievers took over. UMBC would go on a 20-4 run over the next 9:17 and led 24-13 and 37-24 at the break. They built their advantage to as many as 26 in the second half in winning their eighth conference game.
UMBC put four players in double figures in the victory led by Ace Valentine who had 16 points, eight rebounds, and three assists. Caden Diggs put in 15 points, Josh Odunowo had 12, and Jose Roberto Tanchyn recorded 11 points. Odunowo also grabbed eight rebounds as they outrebounded Maine 43-29. The Retrievers are now 15-8 and 8-2 in America East. TJ Biel had a game-high 23 points (five 3-pointers) and six rebounds in the loss for the Black Bears. Bashir N’Galang chipped in 10 points. Mekhi Gray, who played at NJIT and a year at UMass-Lowell before transferring to Orono for this season, also hit the 1,000 point mark in his collegiate career late in the second half. Maine is now 6-20 and 4-7 in the conference and will remain at home to take on NJIT on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
Photos from games earlier this season courtesy of Eastern Maine Sports and UMaine Athletics
