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Feb. 26, 2005

Box Score

Burlington, Vt. - The University of Maine women's basketball team took a 34-29 lead into the half and used a 41 point second half performance to win the 2005 America East regular season title, Saturday afternoon at Patrick Gymnasium. Six Black Bears were in double figures with sophomore Ashley Underwood (Augusta, Maine) leading the way with 15 points including four three-pointers. Senior forward Monica Peterson (Wilmington, Del.) scored 12 points and added 11 rebounds for the double-double for the Black Bears who improve to 18-8 overall and 14-2 in conference play.

Maine maintained control of the first half with the inside play of junior forward Ab by Schrader who scored 11 first half points and the outside shooting of sophomore guard Ashley Underwood (Augusta, Maine) and senior guard Missy Traversi (Attleboro, Mass.). Underwood hit three three-pointers for nine points with Traversi connecting on two for six points. Sophomore forward Bracy Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine) gave Maine their first two points as she hit two free throws. Maine opened with an 8-2 lead with Schrader scoring seven consecutive points. for Maine as the Black Bears opened with an 8-2 lead at the 14:01 mark. Alexis Castro pulled Vermont into the lead with nine straight points 14-9. Back to back three-point field goals from Underwood and Missy Traversi (Attleboro, Mass.) helped Maine regain the lead 19-14. At the 6:09 mark, Castro tied the game 21-21 with a pair of free throws. Catamounts took the lead when Sara Fenton hit 1 of 2 from the line, 22-21. Underwood added two more three-pointers to put the Black Bears back into the lead, 27-25 at the 3:35 mark. With Traversi's second three-pointer of the half , two free-throws from Barker and a layup from senior forward Monica Peterson (Wilmington, Del.), Maine led 34-29 at the half.

Maine shot 47.8 percent from the floor (11-23), connected on 7-8 from the line (87.5%), and were 5-9 (55.6%) from behind-the-arc in the first half. The Catamounts 10-35 (28.6%) from the floor, 6-7 (85,7%) from the free-throw line, and 3 of 10 (30%) from the three-point line. Vermont outrebounded the Black Bears 19-18 including 11 offensive boards.

Vermont's Lani Boardman scored the first four points of the half to pull within one point, 34-33 before Underwood hit Maine's first basket, a three-pointer to extend Maine's cushion to four, 37-33. Travers hit 1 of 2 from the line and Schrader scored another inside bucket to lead 40-33 at the 16:00 mark. Maine went on a 9-2 run to lead by 14 points, 49-35 with 12:40 remaining in the contest. Senior Kim Corbitt (Albany, New York) extended Maine's lead to 52-37 with a three-pointer. The Catamounts tried to hang around through the inside game of Castro and Boardman's shooting, but Peterson and Barker answered each time Vermont closed the gap. At the 5:34 mark, Maine led 59-48. With 5 of 6 from the line the Black Bears lead by 11 points 64-53. Brittany Cross kept the scoreline close connecting on a three-pointer with 3:45 remaining. Danielle Sabourin closed the gap to nine 68-59 before Peterson added in inside basket and Traversi added 1 of 2 from the charity stripe to lead 71-59 with 1:40 remaining. Sabourin added a layup and two more free throws to pull the score to 72-61. Corbitt added three free throws in the final two minutes to seal the win for the Black Bears, 75- 61.

Underwood finished with 15 points, Schrader added 14, Traversi had 13, Peterson chipped in 12, Barker added 11, Corbitt had 10 including 8 assists to extend Maine's win streak to 11 games. Maine shot 45.7 percent (21-46) as a team from the floor for the contest. Alexis Castro led all scorers with 22 points for the Catamounts, who fall to 12-13 overall and 8-8 in the America East. Vermont who were 21-70 (30.0 percent) from the floor for the game. Underwood sank 4-7 from beyond the three-point line. Maine outrebounded the Catmounts 41-36 for the game.

Maine travels to Stony Brook on Wednesday, March 2 for its final road game at 7:00pm and then hosts UMBC on Saturday, March 5 for its final home game before playoffs. Gametime is slated for 7:30pm with a post-game ceremony set to recognize Maine's four seniors. For more information go to www.GoBlackBears.com.