Blodgett leads UM to victory

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ORONO – Yes, Lawrence High School of Fairfield phenom Cindy Blodgett is going to be an impact player for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

Yes, Stephanie Guidi is again going to be a force to be reckoned with in the North Atlantic Conference.

Yes, Maine, the defending NAC regular-season champion, has more depth than it had a year ago and people are very interested in them.

In front of 3,171, the largest crowd to ever witness a Black Bear women’s basketball game in Orono, Maine pulled away to beat a good Strakonice team from the Czech Republic 73-60 at Alfond Arena on Friday evening.

Blodgett, a four-time NEWS All-Maine first teamer, scored a game-high 22 points, dished out six assists, and made three steals and junior All-NAC forward Guidi contributed 20 points and seven rebounds to pace the Bears.

“They were a very good team, and I thought our girls did a very good job, especially in the second half,” said Maine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie. “I was very pleased. Our defensive pressure caused some turnovers and we generated offense off it. We have technical things we have to work on but I thought the girls gave a great effort.”

Palombo added that she thought her team’s improved depth wore out Strakonice in the latter stages of the game.

Guidi said Blodgett made her presence felt.

“Cindy did a great job. She played really well and she played with a lot of enthusiasm, which is great to see,” said Guidi.

Blodgett downplayed her performance.

“I can play better,” said Blodgett, who said the biggest adjustment to Division I ball is learning the complicated offense.

“We have so many plays,” said Blodgett.

It was Guidi’s aggressiveness that broke the game open in the second half. She took the ball to the hoop and that resulted in Strakonice’s 6-foot-5 Petra Durbakova drawing her fifth foul with 8:04 left.

She also drew the fourth foul on talented Larisa Butenkova with 7:30 remaining. Butenkova and Durbakova combined for 17 of Strakonice’s 40 rebounds.

“She (Durbakova) was real tall, so I took it right to the basket and tried to get her in foul trouble,” said Guidi, who added that the guards did a great job getting the ball inside.

Guidi sank three free throws off those fouls to make it 54-48 and Maine scored the next six points as Jonesport-Beals freshman Sandi Carver hit a 14-footer, Blodgett made a no-look pass to Rita Sullivan for a bucket underneath, and Blodgett capped the flurry with two free throws.

Strakonice could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Sullivan had eight points, all in the second half, and Catherine Gallant had a game-high 10 rebounds and four steals. Stacey Porrini finished with eight points and six rebounds in 13 minutes of play.

Butenkova’s 16 points and nine rebounds led Strakonice, which is 2-2 on its tour of the U.S. Sylvie Helebrantova had 12 points and Drahomira Vondrickova had 10 points and a game-high eight assists.

Maine forced 29 turnovers in the game and held a 44-40 rebounding advantage.

Carver had four points in her Maine debut, but didn’t look out of place.

“I’m glad it was just an exhibition game,” grinned Carver. “I’m glad I have more time to prepare myself for this level. I didn’t know how intense it was, and I’m not used to all the pushing and shoving. There’s a lot of things to get used to.”

Maine 73, Strakonice 60

Strakonice Maine

Name G AG F AF TP Name G AG F AF TP

Krkoschova 1 3 0 0 2 Grealy 0 1 4 4 4

Stverakova 1 7 2 4 5 Stubbs 0 0 0 0 0

Butenkova 6 11 4 5 16 Blodgett 7 14 7 9 22

Durbakova 4 9 0 0 8 Gallant 2 8 1 1 5

Bernasova 0 2 0 0 0 Carver 2 4 0 0 4

Vondrickova 3 4 3 4 10 Rustad 0 0 0 0 0

Vanovia 2 10 0 0 5 Porrini 3 8 0 1 6

Helebrtva 5 9 2 3 12 Dionne 0 5 2 2 2

Duskava 1 1 0 0 2 Ripton 0 3 2 2 2

Capkova 0 2 0 0 0 Sullivan 4 5 0 5 8

Guidi 7 14 6 11 20

Totals 23 58 11 16 60 Totals 25 62 22 35 73

Strakonice 33 60

Maine 33 73

3-pt. goals: Strakonice (3-14): Stverakova 1-6, Bernasova 0-1, Vondrickova 1-1, Vanovia 1-6; Maine (1-8): Blodgett 1-5, Dionne 0-2, Ripton 0-1