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Black Bears Win Regular Season Finale Over UMBC, 63-55
March 5, 2005
Orono, Maine - Senior Missy Traversi (Attleboro, Mass.) scored 19 points, sophomore Bracey Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine) added 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Ashley Underwood (Augusta, Maine) hit four three-pointers as the University of Maine women's basketball team cruised to a 63-55 America East win over UMBC in their regular season finale, Saturday evening at the Harold Alfond Arena. Maine earns its 13th consecutive victory and improves to 20-8 overall and 16-2 in league action as the Retrievers drop to 8-19 and 3-15. The Retrievers started the game with a 5-0 run until Barker hit Maine's first field goal at 15:22 mark. The Black Bears answered with a 9-0 run to lead 9-5. With five minutes left in the half, Maine led 21-15. The Black Bears closed the half hitting five consecutive three-pointers, three from Underwood, two from Traversi and one from senior guard Kim Corbitt (Albany, N.Y.) to extend their lead to 13 at the half, 36-23. Although only connecting on 13-26 (.500) from the floor in the first half, Maine had the hot hand connecting on 7-11 from behind-the-arc and 3-3 from the charity stripe. UMBC's Amanda Robinson (7 points) and Heather Luttrell (6 points) kept the Retrievers within striking distance. Traversi was the only Black Bear in double-figure scoring in the first half with 11 points and four assists. Barker chipped in 9 points and 3 rebounds, with Underwood's 9 points all from behind-the-arc. The Retrievers started the second half with a 9-0 run to close the Black Bear lead, 36-32. Sophomore forward Lindsay Hugstad-Vaa (Apple Valley, Mn.) scored four points to extend Maine's lead 40-32. At the 10:27 mark, UMBC had closed the gap 44-40, but Traversi answered with another three-pointer to put the Black Bear cushion back to seven points, 47-40. With another Barker basket and an Underwood trey, Maine led 52-45 with under eight minutes to play. Robinson remained an offensive threat inside as she scored eight of UMBC's second half points.
With 3:59 to play in the second half, Maine held a 56-47 advantage. The Retreivers chipped their way back into the game and got to within four points, 58-54 behind a three-pointer from Courtney Doughman and a field goal from Robinson with 1:32 remaining. Traversi stole the ball and found junior forward Abby Schrader (Pt. Pleasant, N.J.) for an easy bucket to extend Maine's lead, 60-54. With 58.9 seconds to play Luttrell hit one of two from the line to pull to within five, 60-55. Traversi answered with two consecutive trips the the foul line hitting 3 of 4 to put the game away 63-55. Traversi led the Black Bears in scoring with 19 points, six assists and four rebounds, with Barker adding 15 points and eight rebounds and Underwood hitting 4 of 7 three-pointers to finish with 12 points. Maine shot 42.0 percent (21-50 ) from the floor, 52.9 percent (9-17) from behind-the-arc, and 85.7 percent (12-14) from the foul line. Robinson was the only UMBC player to finish with double-figures in scoring with 19 points. Doughman made three shots from behind-the-arc and finished with nine points. The Retrievers committed 11 turnovers and shot 42.8 percent from the floor, 54.5 percent in three-point field goals and 62.5 percent from the foul line. Maine outrebounded UMBC 31-26. As the number one seed for the second year in a row, Maine will face the winner of the first round match-up between the 8th seeded Boston University Terriers and the 9th seeded Stony Brook Seawolves on Thursday, March 10 at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavillion in Hartford, Connecticut. The 2005 Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women's Basketball Tournament begins with first round play on Wednesday, March 9 with quarter-finals on Thursday, semi-finals on Friday and the championship game on Saturday, March 12. Maine's quarter-final game begins at 2:30pm. For live radio coverage of all Maine women's basketball tournament games, tune to the voice of the Black Bears, Jeff Solari, on the "SportsZone," WZON-AM 620 or www.zoneradio.com. For more information go to www.GoBlackBears.com. |
