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Women's Basketball Downs UMBC in America East Opener
Jan. 5, 2008
ORONO, Maine - 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(.) |
