Colleen Kilmurray paced the Black Bears in a 67-55 win over defending America East champion UMBC on Saturday, January 5. Kilmurray led all scorers with a career high 23 points, shooting a staggering 8 for 11 from the field and a perfect 6 for 6 from the free throw line. She also pulled down 5 rebounds and notched 3 assists for the Black Bears.

Colleen Kilmurray pours in career-high 23 points in win

The University of Maine women's basketball team opened its America East schedule on Saturday night with a 67-55 win over defending conference champion UMBC at Alfond Arena in Orono. The Black Bears (4-10, 1-0 AE) won for the third time in their last five games, while the Retrievers (4-10, 0-1) dropped their fourth-straight contest.

A pair of Black Bears topped or tied their career-highs in points in the contest, including junior forward Colleen Kilmurray (23 points, new career-high) and senior guard Kris Younan (13 points, tied career-high). Sophomore forward Brittany Boser tossed in 12 points, while freshman guard Tanna Ross came off the bench to pull down a team-best six rebounds. The Black Bears also shot a staggering 22-of-23 from the free throw line for a 96 percent clip. Maine also out-rebounded UMBC, 35-27, in the contest.

Carlee Cassidy paced the Retrievers with 27 points, while Chantay Frazier came off the bench to net nine. For their efforts Kilmurray and Cassidy were named the America East Players of the Game.

A Morgan Hatten layup for UMBC brought the Retrievers to within 50-47 with 7:56 remaining in the game. That layup capped an 11-2 run by UMBC as it had found itself down 48-36 four minutes earlier.

However, the Black Bears responded and scored the next six points over a two-minute stretch, including four from Boser, to open up a 56-47 advantage. UMBC would not get closer than five points the rest of the way. The Black Bears sealed the win in the final three minutes of the contest by going a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Amanda Tewksbury and Emily Rousseau each went 4-for-4 during that stretch.

The win marked the second-straight season and the sixth time in the last seven the Black Bears won their America East opener.

Maine raced out to a 20-8 advantage six minutes into the contest on the strength of three-straight Younan three-pointers. The Black Bears stretched their lead out to as many as 15 at 25-10 with 8:43 to go in the half on a three-point play by Kilmurray. She had 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor and ripped down four boards as she played all 20 minutes of the first half. Younan tossed in 11 points in the opening half as the Black Bears built a 29-21 edge heading into the locker room at halftime.

Maine led by as much as 12 in the second half. A jumper by Boser with 12:48 to go in the contest lifted the Black Bears to a 48-36 edge before UMBC went on its surge to get within three.

Maine returns to action next Sunday, Jan. 13, when it travels to Albany to face the Great Danes at 2 p.m. Albany opened its conference schedule on Saturday with a 52-42 win over New Hampshire. The game can be heard live throughout the state of Maine on the Black Bear Sports Radio Network. Fans outside the coverage area can listen to the game live over the internet at www.GoBlackBears.com.

Rob Bellamy played a big role for the Black Bears last weekend. Bellamy scored a goal and an assist against league leading Northeastern on Friday night, and netted 2 assists in a 4-2 Black Bear victory over RPI on Sunday, January 6 in Portland, Maine.

Bellamy, Tyler Each Notch Goal and Assist

Northeastern's Joe Vitale scored a goal and added three assists to lead Northeastern University to a 7-3 win over Maine on Friday night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. Bret Tyler (Maynard, Mass.) and Rob Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) each had a goal and an assist for the Black Bears.

The two teams skated through a scoreless first period. Northeastern struck first when Steve Silva made a cross ice pass to Jimmy Russo who beat Maine goalie Dave Wilson (East Caledon, Ontario) 1:29 into the second period.

Maine's Rob Bellamy knotted the game at 1-1 minutes later. On the power play, Wes Clark (Oakville, Ontario) found Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) in front of the goal. House had a shot that was saved, but Bellamy collected the rebound for his third goal of the season.

Northeastern then scored the next three goals to take a 4-1 lead. Wade MacLeod and Vitale teamed up to find Tyler McNeely who beat Wilson for his sixth goal of the season. Northeastern made it 3-1 when Jacques Perreautlt and Jim Driscoll found Randy Guzior who beat Wilson with a shot from near the boards.

The Huskies took the 3-1 lead into the second intermission. MacLeod scored his first of the night from Vitale and McNeely 4:03 into the third period. Maine answered back with a goal by Bret Tyler, his team-leading fifth of the season. Bellamy and Jeff Marshall (Kyle, Saskatchewan) assisted on the goal by Tyler at 6:42 of the third period.

Northeastern answered right back with three straight goals. MacLeod scored his second of the night from Vitale, before Vitale and Rob Massey each notched unassisted tallies.

Maine closed out the scoring at 13:50 of the third period. Tyler found Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) alone to the left of Northeastern goalie Brad Thiesssen. Dee beat Thiessen with a high shot for his first collegiate goal.

Northeastern had a 31-23 advantage in shots. Maine goalie Dave Wilson made 18 saves in 40 minutes of action. He picks up the loss and falls to 0-1-0 on the season. Ben Bishop (Des Peres, Mo.) made six saves in the final 20 minutes of action. Northeastern goalie Thiessen stopped 20 shots in the game. He improves to 10-4-2 on the season.

The Black Bears fall to 6-9-2 on the season and 3-6-2 in Hockey East play. Northeastern improves to 10-4-2, 7-3-1 on the campaign.

The Black Bears return to action on Sunday, January 6 when they host Rensselaer at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine. The puck is scheduled to drop at 2 p.m.

Men's Ice Hockey Downs RPI 4-2 on Sunday

The University of Maine men's ice hockey team skated to a 4-2 win over Rensselaer on Sunday afternoon in front of 6,620 fans at the Cumberland Civic Center in Portland. Maine improved to 7-9-2 with the win, while RPI dipped to 8-10-3 with the setback.

Lem Randall (Snow Lake, Manitoba), Wes Clark (Oakville, Ontario), Jeff Marshall (Kyle, Saskatchewan) and Billy Ryan (Milton, Mas.) each tallied a goal for the Black Bears. Rob Bellamy (Westfield, Mass.) assisted on a pair, while Ryan chipped in an assist for a two-point night. Travis Ramsey (Lakewood, Calif.), Robby Dee (Plymouth, Minn.) and Simon Danis-Pepin (Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec) also added assists in the contest.

Chase Polacek and Seith Kierer each scored for the Engineers. RPI goaltender Mathias Lange made 32 stops, but was tagged with the loss and fell to 4-5-2

The Black Bears controlled the pace of play in the first period by out-shooting RPI 16-8 in shots on goal. Maine registered 12 of the first 14 shots on goal in the period as it built a 1-0 lead heading into the locker room for the first intermission. The Black Bears got on the scoreboard at the 6:37 mark of the period on a goal Randall, which was his first career collegiate marker. The freshman forward deflected Ramsey's shot from the blueline and slipped it past Lange.

Both teams exchanged goals in the second period. Rensselaer knotted the contest at 1-1 at the 5:56 mark of the second stanza on a goal by Polacek as he skated down the left side of the net and beat Maine goalie Ben Bishop (Des Peres, Mo.). However, the Black Bears responded at the 8:59 mark of the second frame on a goal by Clark. The Black Bear forward took a corner pass from Bellamy between the circles and lifted a wrister that beat Lange stickside in the upper right corner of the net. It was Clark's third of the season. Bishop preserved Maine's lead heading into the second intermission as he made a diving glove save across the crease to rob RPI of a potential tying goal.

The Black Bears put the game out of reach with a short-handed goal by Marshall. Marshall stole the puck from an RPI defender and skated into the left circle and placed a wrister underneath Lange's glove into the back of the net at 9:17. Maine capped its scoring at the 2:20 mark of the period with an empty net goal from Ryan to make it 4-1 Black Bears. RPI added a late goal in the final 30 seconds by Seth Kierer, but it was not enough as Maine earned the win.

Maine goaltender Ben Bishop made 18 saves as he picked up the win. He improves to 7-8-2 on the season. Rensselaer netminder Mathias Lange stopped 32 shots in net. He falls to 4-5-2 overall.

The Black Bears return to action on Saturday, January 12 when they host Boston University at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena.