Bears’ balance too much for St. Bonaventure> Cassidy scores 1,000th career point

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ORONO – St. Bonaventure had to make a choice Friday night: play man-to-man defense and fall victim to Maine’s formidable frontcourt, or pack into a zone and take its chances against the Black Bears’ outside shooters.

Neither approach was successful as Maine alternately took advantage of each and played sound defense while pulling away for a 94-67 victory in the opening round of the Dead River Co. Classic at Alfond Arena.

Maine, 2-0, moves into today’s 7 p.m. championship game against 3-1 Mississippi, an 83-77 winner over North Carolina-Charlotte in Friday’s tourney opener.

St. Bonaventure (3-2) faces UNC-Charlotte (1-3) in Saturday’s 5 p.m. consolation contest.

Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie’s Bears and 3,000-plus fans celebrated the retirement of Cindy Blodgett’s No. 14 jersey with a well-balanced performance.

Maine established its frontcourt advantage early on and exploited the Bonnies’ lack of height and muscle inside. St. Bonaventure couldn’t handle 6-foot-4 Jamie Cassidy’s post-up abilities, nor could it contend with Cassidy’s ability to dish off to 6-4 Martina Tinklova for easy baskets.

“What we saw tonight was the patience on the inside,” Palombo said. “It’s very hard to double Jamie when she’s going to find people like she did or like Martina did.”

Cassidy, who scored her 1,000th career point early in the game, and Tinklova combined for 37 first-half points on 14-for-18 shooting as Maine shot 55 percent in forging a 47-37 halftime lead.

Cassidy scored a game-high 24 points on 8-for-12 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and provided five assists. Tinklova, whose previous career high was 10 points, scored 20 in the first half on her way to 22 for the game.

“I definitely have to be conscious of the fact that people are going to be doubling and tripling me,” Cassidy said. If I get it in and out, it’ll make it easier on me on the inside. I love playing with Martina. I think we work really well together.”

The Bears moved in front behind a 14-1 burst in the first half. Cassidy scored from underneath off a Kizzy Lopez feed, then Tinklova converted off an inbounds pass. Cassidy’s put-back, a rebound hoop by Tinklova and a pair of Tracy Guerrette 3-pointers gave Maine a 27-11 lead with 10:11 left in the half.

The Bonnies hung close thanks to 46 percent floor shooting, including three Casey Homan 3-pointers, but Maine pulled away in the second half.

With St. Bonaventure playing a 2-3 zone, the Bears utilized their transition game and their perimeter prowess to extend the advantage. Andrea Clark and Kelly Bowman scored fast-break layups, Kristen McCormick nailed a 3-pointer, and Cassidy hit a 14-foot fall-away jumper during an 11-0 spurt that gave Maine a 61-39 lead with 15:17 remaining.

McCormick, who had been sidelined for the past two weeks with an ankle sprain, proved she is well on her way to recovery. In Blodgett-like fashion, McCormick connected on four of six 3-pointers on her way to a career-high 22 points. She went 7-for-8 in the second half.

“Cassidy and Tinklova, they both hurt us in the first half. When we tried to adjust to that, [McCormick] was hurting us from the perimeter,” said St. Bonaventure coach Marti Whitmore. “They played well together. It didn’t seemed to matter what kind of defense we threw at them.”

The Bears, who led by as many as 32 points in the second half, got good minutes out of its bench, including Lopez, Chantal Macream and Andrea Pardilla.

Melissa Fazio led St. Bonaventure with 19 points and seven rebounds. Homan finished with 15 points, while Tanesha James added 12.

In the first game, Mississippi rattled off 15 unanswered points late in the first half, building a 14-point lead that helped the Rebels beat the 49ers.

Ole Miss did much of its damage from the foul line during the 14-0 run, which turned a one-point deficit into a 36-22 advantage with 44 seconds left in the half. Guard Becky Myatt and center Frankie Boyd each hit four foul shots as UNC-Charlotte encountered difficulty trying to keep the Rebels from pushing the ball inside.

Tarsha Bethley led Ole Miss with 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Boyd provided 21 points and five boards. Myatt contributed 19 points for the Rebels, who shot 57 percent from the floor in the second half after hitting on 35 percent in the first half.

Tonya Phifer tossed in a game-high 23 points for UNC-Charlotte, while Nikki Richardson chipped in with 20 points and 7 rebounds and Claire Morrison had 10 points.

The sloppy first half gave way to a more wide-open second half. Three-pointers by Bethley and Myatt, and Leslie Vollrath’s 16-footer pushed Ole Miss’ lead to 44-25 with barely two minutes gone in the second half.

The 49ers kept things close behind the hard-charging play of Phifer and Richardson, closing to within eight points (64-56) on a Claire Mollison 3-pointer with 6:45 to play. However, Ole Miss got the ball in Bethley’s hands down the stretch, and the All-SEC pick made sure the lead would stick.

Black Bears 94, Bonnies 67

St. Bonaventure (3-2) Maine (2-0)

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

Waltman 2 5 0 1 5 Bowman 2 3 0 0 4

Cole 2 3 0 0 4 Clark 2 5 0 1 4

Vanco 1 1 4 4 6 Cassidy 8 12 7 10 24

Sober 1 7 0 0 2 Guerrette 2 4 0 0 6

Fazio 8 21 3 4 19 Vachon 1 5 0 0 3

Homan 5 9 2 2 15 Macream 0 1 1 3 1

O’Connell 2 6 0 0 4 McCormick 9 14 0 0 22

James 4 13 2 3 12 Lopez 0 1 0 3 0

Burleson 0 1 0 0 0 Stone 0 2 2 3 2

Edwards 0 1 0 0 0 Tinklova 9 12 4 5 22

Pardilla 3 3 0 0 6

Totals 25 67 11 14 67 Totals 36 62 14 25 94

St. Bonaventure 37 67

Maine 47 94

3-pt. goals: St. Bonaventure (6-20): Waltman 1-3, Fazio 0-4, Homan 3-6, O’Connell 0-3, James 2-3, Burleson 0-1; Maine (8-18): Bowman 0-1, Cassidy 1-1, Guerrette 2-3, Vachon 1-4, McCormick 4-6, Lopez 0-1, Stone 0-1, Tinklova 0-1

Attendance: 3,647

Rebels 83, 49ers 77

UNC-Charlotte (1-3) Mississippi (3-1)

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

Turner 3 7 2 2 8 Bethley 7 14 6 10 22

Mackey 1 4 1 2 3 Vollrath 2 4 2 2 6

Cacciola 0 0 0 2 0 Boyd 7 12 7 9 21

Richardson 6 12 4 4 20 Corbitt 2 5 1 2 6

Phifer 8 18 5 9 23 Myatt 4 8 8 10 19

Faught 0 2 0 0 0 Bantz 0 2 0 0 0

Patterson 0 0 0 0 0 Wysinger 1 2 0 0 2

Smith, To. 1 1 0 3 2 Moton 0 1 1 3 1

Mollison 3 4 4 4 13 Murphy 1 2 0 0 2

Smith, Te. 1 2 0 1 2 Dorsey 0 2 0 0 0

Smith, Je. 0 4 1 2 1 Signaigo 0 0 0 0 0

Jones 2 4 0 1 5 Gadd 1 2 2 5 4

Bolden 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 25 58 17 30 77 Totals 25 54 27 41 83

UNC-Charlotte 23 77

Mississippi 36 83

3-pt. goals: UNC-Charlotte (10-22): Richardson 4-10, Phifer 2-6, Faught 0-1, Mollison 3-4, Jones 1-1; Mississippi (6-15): Bethley 2-5, Corbitt 1-2, Myatt 3-6, Bantz 0-2