Maine women's basketball drops regular season finale on the road against Bryant

Asta Blauenfeldt had a game-high 20 points Saturday afternoon, but it wasn't enough as Bryant used a 10-3 run late in the third quarter and pulled away from Maine for a 68-57 America East women's basketball victory in the regular season finale at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island. 

Blauenfeldt shot 7-14 (4-7 three-pointers), while also adding four rebounds, three assists, and two steals to her point total in the Maine loss. Caroline Bornemann and Caroline Dotsey had 10 points a piece. Bornemann also contributed six rebounds and two assists. Sarah Talon and Paula Gallego put in eight and seven points respectively. The Black Bears shot 35% overall, including 3-15 (20%) in the third period when the hosts increased their lead from eight to 16. Nia Scott led four Bryant players in double figures with 18 points and eight rebounds. Breezie Williams had 13 points, Mimi Rubino 11, and Ali Brigham 10. The Bulldogs end their regular season at 16-13 and 9-7 in America East. Maine finishes 14-15 and 9-7 in the conference (#4 seed) and will host a quarterfinal playoff game in Orono on Thursday night, March 6th at 6 p.m. vs #5 NJIT.

Maine women's ice hockey falls short at Boston College in conference quarterfinal 

Julia Pellerin had two goals, including a second period game winner on Saturday evening, in leading #3 seed Boston College past #6 Maine 4-3 in a women's Hockey East quarterfinal game played at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

Maine had a pair of one goal leads in the contest, including the opening tally when Elise Morphy scored at 4:16 of the first period. Boston College answered just over two minutes later when Alanna Devlin found the back of the net at 6:32. Makayla Boarder made it 2-1 Black Bears 52 seconds into the middle period, but the Eagles scored the next two at 4:32 by Pellerin and at 5:37 by Keri Clougherty on the powerplay to jump ahead 3-2. The Black Bears re-tied it on a powerplay goal by Jamie Grinder at 8:43, before the second of the period by Pellerin proved to be the game winner just 12 seconds later. Maine pulled goaltender Kiia Lahtinen with 1:54 left in the game for the extra attacker, but couldn't come up with the equalizer as Boston College advanced. 

Boarder had one goal and one assist in the Maine loss. Raegan Wurm, Ava Stevenson, Brenna Curl, Kendall Sundby, and Mira Seregely each had one assist. Lahtinen had 23 saves. Pellerin was the leading scorer in the game with her two goals and one assist for Boston College. Kate Ham also had two assists. Grace Campbell stopped 25 shots in net, as the Eagles now advance to the semifinals on Wednesday at Boston University with a record of 21-12-2. The Black Bears end up with a final mark of 11-21-3. 

First place Bryant holds off Maine men's basketball in Orono. The Black Bears do clinch a home quarterfinal playoff game 

The top men's team in America East, the Bryant University Bulldogs, completed a season sweep over the Maine Black Bears 80-72 on Skip Chappelle Court at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono on Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss, Maine clinches a home quarterfinal playoff game on Saturday, March 8th with time and opponent to be announced. 

Both teams had a lead in the first half, but not by more than five points. Kellen Tynes (9) and Jaden Clayton (8) combined for 17 points for Maine, but Bryant held a slight 38-37 advantage at the break. The Bulldogs took their biggest lead of the afternoon of eight early in the second half, before the Black Bears got within 72-70 on two free throws by Quion Burns with 3:04 left to play. Maine only scored two points the rest of the way, and the guests hit 6-6 at the charity stripe in the final 45 seconds to hold on for the road victory. 

Tynes and Burns led four scorers in double figures with 15 points a piece in the loss for Maine. Tynes added five rebounds, two assists, and one steal while Burns grabbed six rebounds. AJ Lopez put in 14 points, and Clayton finished with 13. Rafael Pinzon had a game-high 28 points for Bryant, knocking down 6-14 on three-point attempts. The Bulldogs (19-11, 13-2 in America East) will clinch the regular season title and the #1 seed with a win over UNH on Tuesday. The Black Bears (17-13, 9-6) host UMass-Lowell on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the regular season finale, and their playoff quarterfinal game on March 8th will be their first at home since 1995.

Maine men's hockey holds off Vermont for the weekend sweep on Senior Night on Saturday

Freshman forward Thomas Pichette scored a game winning third period goal on Saturday night, as #5 Maine held off Vermont 4-3 on Senior Night in men's Hockey East action before a soldout crowd of 5,043 at Alfond Arena.

The teams traded first period goals as Josh Nadeau scored at 2:35 for Maine, before Vermont evened it 19:21 on a tally from Max Strand. The Black Bears dominated the middle stanza, and took a 3-1 advantage on goals from Nicholas Niemo at 6:34 and Owen Fowler at 14:55. Simon Jellus got the Catamounts back within one by finding the net at 5:20 of the third period. Pichette had the answer for Maine with his eventual game winner 1:20 later by finding the back of the net at 6:40, his second goal of the season. The guests once again battled back, as a goal by Blake Steenerson at 14:59 made it 4-3. The Black Bears did a great job of pinning UVM in their own zone over the last five minutes, not allowing them to pull their goaltender Keenan Rancier for an extra attacker until there was less than 10 seconds left which was too little too late.

Luke Antonacci had two assists in the Maine win. Sully Scholle, Brandon Chabrier, David Breazeale, and Oskar Komarov provided one assist each. They went 0-1 on the powerplay. Albin Boija made 25 saves to help sweep the weekend series. Jellus had one goal and one assist in the loss for Vermont. Rancier had 37 stops between the pipes. The Catamounts went 0-2 on the powerplay, falling to 11-18-3 and 6-14-2 in Hockey East. Maine (21-6-5, 13-4-5) is still in contention for the regular season league title, as they have 48 points with two games left. Boston College remains in first and has 52 points, but has just a single game remaining (3/8 @ 1 p.m. vs Merrimack). The Black Bears are at UMass next Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday night (7:30 p.m.). Maine honored six players on Friday that played their final regular season home game- Harrison Scott, Ross Mitton, Taylor Makar, Lynden Breen, Nolan Renwick, and Breazeale.

Maine men's basketball clinches #3 seed with last second win over UMass-Lowell. Will host the Riverhawks again on Saturday in the conference quarterfinals

A free throw by Jaden Clayton with 18 seconds left in the second half ended up being the game winner, as Maine men's basketball squeezed past UMass-Lowell 71-70 in the regular season finale at Memorial Gymnasium on Skip Chappelle Court in Orono on Tuesday night. 

Both teams held a first half lead but not by more than five points, with the hosts holding a 29-27 advantage at the break led by Kellen Tynes who had 12 points and five steals in the opening 20 minutes. UML grabbed the biggest lead of the night at six points with 11:14 left to play 51-45, before the Black Bears jumped back in front 57-55 with a 12-4 run capped off by a Clayton driving layup 3:28 later. The lead be would swapped four times over the final 7:46. Quinton Mincey made it 70-68 Riverhawks with 1:25 remaining, but AJ Lopez tied it 26 seconds later. A steal by Tynes with 40 seconds showing on the clock would lead to a foul on the ensuing possession. Clayton hit the front end of a 1 and 1 at the line, and then 14 seconds later Tynes came up with another steal and was fouled. Tynes missed the front end of a 1 and 1, but a last second three-pointer on the other end by Mincey hit the side of the rim and bounced off as time expired to allow Maine to escape with the victory and a regular season sweep over UMass-Lowell.

Quion Burns led Maine in the win with 19 points (7-10 field goals). Tynes finished with 14 points, eight steals, and two assists. Clayton ended up with 10 points and six assists. Lopez and Logan Carey both contributed nine points. Mincey had a game-high 26 points in the loss for UMass-Lowell to lead five players in double figures. Mincey shot 10-13 from the floor and was 4-6 from three-point range. The Riverhawks end their regular season at 17-14 and 6-10 in America East, a #6 finish in conference play. Maine (18-13, 10-6) is the #3 seed with the most wins in league play since the 2009-10 season when they won 11 games.

Maine and UMass-Lowell meet for a third time on Saturday night, this time in the America East quarterfinals at 6 p.m. in Orono. It is the first home playoff game for the Black Bears since 1995.

Blauenfeldt helps Maine win their 10th straight quarterfinal game, pulling away from NJIT in Orono. The Black Bears to travel to Albany to take on the Great Danes in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Monday night 

Transfer junior guard Asta Blauenfeldt led three players in double figures by scoring a game-high 22 points on Thursday night, as #4 seeded Maine pulled away to defeat the #5 New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders 65-51 in the America East women's basketball quarterfinals at Memorial Gymnasium on Skip Chappelle Court in Orono. It is the 10th straight win for the Black Bears in the quarterfinal round. 

Blauenfeldt put in 13 points in the first half, as Maine never trailed taking a 31-23 halftime lead. The Black Bears also held NJIT leading scorer Alejandra Zuniga to just one field goal (1-7) and two points in the opening 20 minutes. Zuniga was averaging 23 points per game in the two games between the teams in the regular season, including a 26 point effort in a 61-56 Highlanders win in New Jersey on February 6th. The guests came alive in the third quarter, using an 11-2 run capped off by a three-pointer by Marissa Gingrich to take their only lead of the night at 34-33. Maine restored their advantage for good when Sera Hodgson nailed one from long distance 21 seconds later. The hosts pulled away in the fourth with the first seven points of the period to extend the lead back to 10, and cruised the rest of the way by outscoring NJIT 27-16 over the final 10 minutes. 

Blauenfeldt (9-14 field goals, 3-4 three-pointers) added nine rebounds, two assists, and two steals to her game-high point total in the win for Maine. Caroline Bornemann filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals. Hodgdon finished with 11 points, while Caroline Dotsey chipped in six points and five rebounds off the bench. The Black Bears shot 10-16 from the floor in the fourth quarter to help put the game away. Zuniga scored 12 of her team-high 14 points in the second half in the loss for NJIT, also contributing five rebounds and four assists. Olivia Kulyk had 12 points, as the Highlanders season ends with a record of 11-19. Maine is now 15-15 and will travel to New York on Monday at 6:30 p.m. to battle top seeded Albany (25-5) in the semifinals. The Great Danes won both regular season meetings over the Black Bears, 60-55 on their home court on January 11th and 56-40 in Orono on February 20th.

Whitehead homerun in the eighth inning leads Maine baseball past Bucknell

Payton Whitehead hit a two-out, two-run homerun in the top of the eighth inning on Friday afternoon, as Maine spoiled the home opener for Bucknell with a 3-2 victory in non-conference baseball action at Eugene B. Depew Field in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Bucknell broke though in a scoreless game in the sixth inning on a Tyler Dunn RBI single, and a second run would come across on an error on the play by Maine rightfielder Zach Martin to make it 2-0 Bison. The Black Bears immediately cut the deficit in half in the seventh when Myles Sargent tripled off the fence in right centerfield, and Quinn Murphy provided an RBI groundout to second base. Brody Rasmussen began the eighth by reaching third on a throwing error by the Bucknell pitcher. It looked like he could be stranded there after Dean O'Neill stuckout and Martin popped to short, but Whitehead came to bat and took a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right down the line for the game winning two-run homer. Maine stranded the tying run for the Bison at second base in each of the last two at bats for the hosts to hold on for the win and snap a four game losing streak. Whitehead and Sargent had two hits each to pace the offense. Colin Fitzgerald (2-2) delivered a solid outing on the mound to get the win allowing one earned run on six hits with one walk and seven strikeouts in 7.2 innings of work. Sebastian Holt picked up his first save by firing the final 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Maine (3-8) and Bucknell (5-5) will play game two of their series on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Maine softball drops both games on the first day of the Bulldog Invitational 

The Maine softball team lost both games on day one of the Bulldog Invitational in New Haven, Connecticut on Friday, falling to Sacred Heart 7-0 and to the hosts from Yale 6-2.

Nora Campo provided the only Black Bear runs on the day with a two-run homer in game two, while Immie Gie had a hit in each contest. Madison Simmerman lost in the circle against Sacred Heart allowing four runs on five hits in 4.2 innings, while Alysen Rieth was tagged for six runs (three earned) on seven hits in 6.0 innings in the defeat to Yale. Maine is 2-13 in the early season under first year head coach Kimberly Stiles. They will play both the Pioneers and Bulldogs once again Saturday afternoon.

Maine throttled by UMass, clinching the regular season Hockey East Title and the #1 seed in the conference playoffs for Boston College

The #16 UMass Minutemen scored three times in the first period Friday night, and cruised past #5 Maine 5-1 in men's Hockey East action at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts.

The Minutemen pressured right from the first drop of the puck, and a tip-in by Cole O'Hara past Albin Boija at 2:52 of the first period got things going. Kenny Connors would strike on the powerplay at 7:09 to double the lead on a shot that deflected off a Maine defender in front. Brandon Holt had a breakaway on a 4 on 4 situation later in the stanza to try to get the Black Bears on the board, but was turned away by UMass netminder Michael Hrabel. The hosts scored again with 40 seconds left in the stanza on a rebound marker from Jack Musa as the rout was on. The Minutemen had the only tally of the second on a goal from Joey Musa, before Charlie Russell got the only one on the night for Maine at 4:19 of the third period. Right after a Black Bears powerplay ended, O'Hara drove to the net and beat Boija for the his second score of the evening unassisted at 11:34. 

Nolan Renwick picked up an assist on the goal by Russell in the Maine loss. The Black Bears went 0-4 on the powerplay. Boija ended up with 27 saves. Along with the two goals by O'Hara, UMass got single assists from Lucas Olvestad, Lucas Mercuri, Aydar Suniev, Francesco Dell'Elce, and Bo Cosman. Hrabel made 38 stops in net, and the Minutemen went 1-3 on the powerplay in improving to 19-12-4 and 10-9-4 in Hockey East. Maine falls to 21-7-5 and 13-5-5 in the conference, and after entering the weekend with a chance at that regular season title and #1 seed they are officially now set in the #2 spot. The teams play the regular season finale on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.

Maine takes advantage of a ninth inning error, gets strong pitching performance from Leys in non-conference baseball win at Bucknell

Caleb Leys pitched 6.0 perfect innings before exiting on Saturday afternoon, and Maine scored four times in the ninth inning including three on a two-out error to beat Bucknell 4-1 in non-conference baseball action in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

The lefthanded junior Leys threw 79 pitches, didn't walk anyone, and stuckout nine in his perfect outing. Gianni Gambardella came on in the seventh inning to keep the game scoreless, before Tyler Dunn greeted him with a leadoff solo homerun in the eighth to make it 1-0 Bucknell. In the last at bat for Maine, Will Burns was hit by a pitch to lead off. After two were retired, Chris Bear and Drew Reynolds both drew walks to load the bases. Brody Rasmussen was next up and hit the first pitch he saw to center that was misplayed by Bison centerfielder Billy Fluharty, allowing three runs to score unearned. Dean O'Neill followed and added on with an RBI single to left, and Sebastian Holt came on the bottom half and set Bucknell down in order to pick up his second save in as many days. Gambardella (1-0) got credited with the win in relief. The Maine pitching staff in two games in the series have only allowed two earned runs and two walks, while striking out 21 batters in 18 innings. The Black Bears (4-8) will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m.

Four players score in double figures as Maine men's basketball snaps their 18 game playoff losing streak, and wins at home in the postseason for the first time in 31 years

ORONO- Kellen Tynes had a team-high 20 points, and made a few timely plays in the second half on Saturday night as the University of Maine men's basketball team defeated UMass-Lowell 72-64 in the America East quarterfinals at Memorial Gymnasium on Skip Chappelle Court. The Black Bears were playing their first quarterfinal home game in 30 years, while breaking an 18 game playoff losing streak, and also winning a home postseason game for the first time since 1994 when they played at Alfond Arena.

#3 seed Maine got off to a 1-5 start from the floor, as UMass-Lowell had an early 9-2 lead over the first three plus minutes. The Black Bears fell behind by seven on three different occasions, before taking their first lead and the lead for good at 20-19 on a layup by Jaden Clayton with 7:58 left before the break. They took as much as a five point advantage, which is where it stood at halftime 34-29 helped by a three-pointer by Quion Burns in the final minute. With Maine holding a 47-43 lead with 13:12 left to play, they finally got some breathing room with a quick 6-0 run on a layup by Tynes and Killian Gribben, and then off a steal by Tynes he took it himself for another layup for a 10 point edge which brought the big Memorial Gymnasium crowd to their feet. After trailing 64-53, the Riverhawks cut it to four again with a 9-2 spurt at 66-62 on a jumper by Anthony Blunt at the shot clock buzzer with 1:30 remaining. The hosts finally put it away on a nice move by Clayton for a layup in the lane, a Clayton steal that led to a fastbreak dunk by Gribben, and two free throws by AJ Lopez to ice the quarterfinal win sending them to Vermont for the semis early next week.

Tynes shot 9-12 from the floor, also adding five rebounds, six assists, and three steals to his team-high point total in the Maine win. Lopez and Clayton both put in 16 points, while Burns added 11 points. Overall the Black Bears hit 29-55 from the field (52.7%), in beating UMass-Lowell for a third team this season. The three wins over the Riverhawks were by a total of 10 points. Max Brooks and Quinton Mincey both had huge games in the loss for #6 seed UML. Brooks (11-14 field goals) had 25 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. Minton (10-20 FGS) had 23 points and six boards. The Riverhawks end the season with a record of 17-15. They had appeared in each of the last two America East Championship games, both losses vs Vermont. The Black Bears (19-13) now get their chance against the #2 Catamounts in the semifinal round on Tuesday night at 7 p.m in Burlington. UVM won both regular season meetings 55-49 at home on February 1st, and in Orono 65-61 on February 15th. The last time Maine won a playoff game overall was in the semifinals on March 7, 2004 over Stony Brook, while their last postseason home win prior to Saturday night was on March 6, 1994 over Hartford 79-74 (semifinals) at Alfond Arena when the league was known as the North Atlantic Conference. They've only been to the championship game once in the league now known as America East (2004), falling to Vermont.

Maine men's hockey earns a tie and shootout win vs. UMass in the regular season finale

The #5 University of Maine rallied from a 2-0 deficit after two periods on Saturday night, scoring twice in the third period to force a 2-2 with #16 UMass at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts in a men's Hockey East regular season finale. The Black Bears won a shootout 2-0 to take the extra conference point, and will now prepare for the league playoffs with a home quarterfinal next Saturday in Orono.

UMass, after a dominant 5-1 win over Maine on Friday night, largely carried the play again on Saturday outshooting the Black Bears 42-23 and taking a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes on goals by Dans Locmelis and Larry Keenan. They had a chance to really put it away with 5:15 left in the second when Taylor Makar was whistled for a five minute major and a game misconduct for crosschecking, but they couldn't cash in on the five minute powerplay which proved to be a turning point. Makar was playing in his first series in Amherst versus his old team since transferring to Maine in the offseason. The guests riding the momentum of that penalty kill came alive in a big way in the third, as Luke Antonacci notched his first goal in over two years on a great pass by Josh Nadeau at 5:26 to cut the deficit in half. Nicholas Niemo then tied it unassisted at 9:47. Goaltender Albin Boija did Albin Boija type things in the final minutes for his team, as for the second time this year he stoned Locmelis and with the possible game winner on his stick. Boija made a head first dive to turn away the sophomore who had a wide open net with a spectacular blocker stop with 3:04 remaining. Maine had the better chances in the 3 on 3 overtime, but the teams settled for the tie. Niemo and Scholle both netted tallies in the shootout, and as he always does Boija stopped both UMass skaters to give the Black Bears two points out of the two game series. 

Nadeau and Frank Djurasevic both had an assist each for Maine, while Boija ended up with 40 saves. The Black Bears went 0-1 on the powerplay. Locmelis had a goal and an assist for UMass, while Michal Hrabel stopped 21 shots. The Minutemen would go 0-5 with their extra man opportunities, as they end their regular season with a record of 19-12-5 and 10-9-5 in Hockey East. They will be the #6 seed in the playoffs. Maine ends up at 21-7-6 and 13-5-6 in conference play (#2 seed), and will host a quarterfinal at Alfond Arena next Saturday night at 7 p.m. with an opponent to be determined. In the second half of the season (18 games) beginning on December 29 vs Bentley, the Black Bears have scored two goals or less in 13 of those contests (not including empty net goals).

Maine softball wins two games at the Bulldog Invitational

After being outscored 13-2 in losses to Sacred Heart and Yale on Friday on the first day of the Bulldog Invitational in Connecticut, the Maine softball flipped the script in 9-0 and 3-0 victories over the Pioneers and Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.

In the first game against Sacred Heart, Kyli Hernandez provided a game winning two-run double. Gabby Papushka would add a three-run homerun, Keira Inman a two-run homer, and Francesca Guerrera a two-run single in the 9-0 Maine rout. Guerrera had three hits and Inman had two, and they both had two RBI. Alysen Rieth won in the circle pitching a complete game allowing three hits with seven strikeouts. In the second game against host Yale, Bailey Snowberger had a first inning RBI single as the Black Bears won 3-0. Kyrah Haba-Dailey and Snowberger also had RBI doubles in the fifth to make a winner out of Madison Simmerman who gave up six hits and one walk in the complete game 7.0 inning effort. Maine is now 4-13 and play their final game in the Bulldog Invitational on Sunday at 11 a.m. against Central Connecticut State.

Maine softball and baseball drop their final games of the weekend 

The University of Maine baseball and softball teams fell in their final games of the weekend on Sunday, as softball dropped a 6-2 decision to Central Connecticut State at the Bulldog Invitational and baseball fell behind 5-0 early in a 13-9 loss at Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. 

Immie Gie and Bailey Snowberger provided the only offense for Maine softball with a solo homerun and an RBI sacrifice fly respectively. Gie had two hits. Alysen Rieth started in the circle and took the loss and allowing five runs (one earned) with two walks and seven strikeouts in 4.0 innings. The Black Bears (4-14) play a three game series at Merrimack College next weekend.

In the baseball game- Maine rallied from 5-0 and 7-3 to take an 8-7 lead, but Bucknell scored three times in the third, once in the fourth, and two more times in the eighth inning to salvage the finale of the series. Dean O'Neill had two hits, and Myles Sargent drove in three runs for the Black Bears. Owen Wheeler (0-2) took the loss in relief of starter Luc Lavigueur. Lavigueur was touched up for seven runs (four earned) in 1.0+ innings of work. Maine (4-9) plays at Iona on Wednesday, before opening up a three game series at St. Johns on Friday.

Top seed Albany rallies past Maine in the America East Women's Basketball Semifinals in New York 

The Maine Black Bears had a solid start on Monday night, but was held to just 29% shooting in the second half as the Albany Great Danes rallied for a 49-41 win in the semifinal round of the America East Women's Basketball Tournament at the Broadview Center in Albany, New York.

Maine led the entire first half, and got off to a 9-2 advantage over the first 3:41 of action as Sera Hodgson nailed 3-4 from three-point territory for all nine of the Black Bear points. The guests led 23-20 at halftime behind those nine from Hodgson, and five points each from Asta Blauenfeldt and Sarah Talon. 

Albany came roaring out of the halftime break to put together a 9-2 run of their own to take their first lead, and the lead for good on a layup from Kayla Cooper. Maine cut it back to a single point late in the period, but a last second three-pointer by Jessica Tomasetti pushed it back to a four point edge headed to the final 10 minutes 38-34. After the Great Danes increased that advantage to eight in the fourth quarter, the Black Bears made a run of 5-0 as Caroline Bornemann made a layup then and banked in a three-pointer to slice it to 42-39 with 4:56 left. The hosts would score seven of the final nine points to ice the victory, including a 5-6 effort from the line to advance to the championship game for a ninth time in program history. Maine shot 7-24 (29.2%) in the second half, that included 2-12 on three-point attempts.

Hodgson and Blauenfeldt both had 11 points in the loss for Maine, as their bid to advance to their 9th championship game appearance in the last 10 seasons fell short. Talon chipped in eight points and six rebounds, while Bornemann scored all five of her points in the fourth quarter to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Olivia Rockwood contributed four points, and Caroline Dotsey had two as the #4 seeded Black Bears end up with a record of 15-16. Cooper had a game-high 16 points and added eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals in the victory for Albany. Kaci Donovan also got into double figures with 12 points and five rebounds, and Tomasetti finished with nine points and eight rebounds. It'll be #1 vs #2 for the title on Friday in New York, as Albany (26-5, 16-0 at home) hosts Vermont (20-12) at 5 p.m. The Great Danes are 7-1 in America East Championship games (last win in 2022, 56-47 over Maine), while the Catamounts are 7-6 (last win in 2023, 38-36 over Albany). UVM fell to the Black Bears in last years final 64-48 in Orono, and are appearing in their third straight championship tilt.