Bonding helps Black Bears roll

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BOSTON – Jamie Cassidy was a cordial hostess Friday when the University of Maine women’s basketball team gathered at her home in Methuen, Mass.

The Black Bears, coming off Thursday night’s disappointing loss at Northeastern, re-energized themselves with a hearty, homemade pasta dinner and some karaoke and dancing entertainment.

A refocused UMaine team took the court Saturday at Case Gym and Cassidy played as if she owned the place. The 6-foot-4 center poured in 34 points and snatched 10 rebounds, powering the Bears to a 92-61 America East thrashing of Boston University.

UMaine improved to 16-5, pushing its league record to 12-1 in its quest to claim the America East regular-season title. BU lost its seventh straight game and stands 4-16 and 1-11, respectively.

Cassidy admitted there was plenty of motivation after Thursday’s game, during which she was plagued by foul trouble and scored only nine points.

“I felt like I let the team down a couple days ago,” Cassidy said. “It was frustrating for everybody. I just wanted to come out and do whatever I could to help the team win and play hard, just come back strong.”

Cassidy torched the Terriers, who had no defensive answers for the junior standout. She took full advantage of her height and post savvy to score almost at will.

“Obviously, I thought Jamie was dominant and very mature in her decisions,” said Maine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie. “I was hoping for this kind of a much more aggressive and physical response to the game the other night.”

When Cassidy did find herself in traffic, Martina Tinklova demonstrated more tenacity. The rangy forward, who connected for 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds, was pleased how the Bears responded to the loss.

“We went to Jamie’s house and stayed there for a couple hours and had a little team bonding,” Tinklova said. “I’m sure that helped us, too. We just relaxed and came out today and played great.”

Maine led 43-30 at intermission, courtesy of 19 points by Cassidy. Though the Bears’ tight defense, afforded the Terriers precious few points close, Maine didn’t put the game away until midway through the second half.

Cassidy led the charge during a 10-3 spurt that pushed the lead to 22 points with 10:32 to play. She scored twice from underneath off inbounds passes from Amy Vachon, then converted a layup off a Vachon feed.

Jamie Nicholls hit a 3-pointer for BU, but a steal and layup by Kizzy Lopez and Tinklova’s offensive rebound basket made it 68-46.

“I thought the aggressiveness Martina showed was very important to our team,” Palombo said. “We’ve been working very hard trying to get some big-time aggressiveness going to the offensive boards, and defensively.”

The Bears shot a sizzling 61 percent from the floor and came away with a commanding 51-25 rebounding advantage. Defensively, their 1-2-2 matchup zone forced BU to shoot from outside.

The Terriers were unable to take advantage of their main offensive weapon, 6-1 center Alison Dixon, who was limited to 12 points on 4-for-15 shooting. She did provide seven rebounds, six steals and five assists.

Black Bears 92, Terriers 61

Maine women (16-5) Boston Univ. (4-16)

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

McCormick 3 5 0 0 8 Dixon 4 15 4 4 12

Vachon 3 7 0 0 6 Nicholls 6 15 3 3 19

Lopez 3 6 3 4 9 LaPlante 1 4 0 0 2

Cassidy 12 17 10 13 34 Millett 3 7 2 2 9

A. Clark 1 2 1 1 3 Wagner 2 7 0 0 5

Macream 1 1 0 0 2 Tulley 1 7 0 1 2

K. Clark 0 1 6 9 6 Nelson 1 3 0 0 2

Bowman 0 0 3 4 3 Prassas 1 2 0 0 2

Guerrette 0 0 0 0 0 Dufault 3 10 1 2 8

Tinklova 7 11 4 4 18 Tomasini 0 0 0 0 0

Moldre 1 1 1 2 3 Mitchell 0 1 0 0 0

Powers 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 31 51 28 37 92 Totals 22 72 10 12 61

Maine 43 92

Boston University 30 61

3-pt. goals: Maine (2-5): McCormick 2-2, Vachon 0-2, Cassidy 0-1; BU (7-26): Nicholls 4-9, Millett 1-3, Wagner 1-5, Tulley 0-4, Prassas 0-1, Dufault 1-3, Mitchell 0-1

Attendance: 645