|
Women's Basketball Downs New Hampshire 69-58 Saturday
Feb. 18, 2006
ORONO, Maine - Ashley Underwood scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Maine Black Bears to a 69-58 victory over New Hampshire on Saturday afternoon at Alfond Arena. After the Wildcats crawled within two points at 53-51 with 6:30 remaining in the contest, Maine went on an 11-0 run to close out the game and get the 11 point win. With the win, Maine improved to 8-15 overall and 4-8 in America East play. New Hampshire dipped to 13-11 and 5-8 in the conference. Maine's win also avenged an earlier 63-59 loss at UNH back on Jan. 18. Underwood was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free-throw line and also added three field goals from behind the arc to lift Maine to victory in front of the second largest crowd at Alfond Arena this season. Bracey Barker poured in 17 points and also grabbed nine rebounds. Barker and Underwood also led the Black Bears with four assists, respectively. Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa, starting her third-straight game at the power forward spot, tied her career-high with eight points. It marked the second-consecutive game she tied her career-high in points. Also during this span, she has shot 7-of-8 from the field. Danielle Clark led New Hampshire with 16 points and five boards, being held to only three points in the second half. Ebony Woods was UNH's second-leading scorer with 15 points, while dishing out a team-high four assists.
The Wildcats jumped out to an early advantage leading by as many as six points. However, Maine tied the contest and overtook New Hampsire at 13-12 with 11:24 to go in the first half on a pair of Barker foul shots. Maine was able to control the first half with a 10-point contribution from Underwood and nine points from freshman Brittany Bowen. Bowen's nine points in the contest was the second-highest point total of her career.
New Hampshire was led in the half by Clark's 13 points, which was seven more than the next highest scorer for the Wildcats. UNH was also held to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field (8-of-24). Maine continued its first-half surge by pushing the lead out to as many as 16 at 53-37 with 13:45 remaining in the contest. However, New Hampshire countered on both ends of the court. The Wildcats defense held Maine scoreless for the next seven minutes, while mounting an 11-0 run to pull within 53-51. The UNH run was sparked by Woods' layup and sustained by Ray Williams who scored seven of her 10 points during the run. Maine, though, responded and scored the next 11 points, which was kick-started by a Barker layup. Underwood contributed heavily to the surge as she knocked down a three-pointer and converted a three-point play on back-to-back possessions. The Black Bears led by as many as 13 following the run and never let UNH get within nine the rest of the way. With the win and a Vermont loss later in the day to Albany, Maine now sits in seventh place in America East, with two road games and two homes games left to close out the season. Maine will be back in action Wednesday when it travels to Baltimore to face UMBC at 7 p.m. at the RAC. The next home game for the Black Bears will be Wednesday, March 1, as they play host to the Boston University Terriers at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are avalible by calling 581-BEAR or toll-free at (800) 756-TEAM. |
