McCormick leads Bears past Vermont

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ORONO – Kristen McCormick realizes she isn’t the focal point for opposing defenses. And that’s exactly the way she likes it.

Perhaps the junior sharpshooter will receive more attention after Wednesday night’s performance at Alfond Arena.

McCormick tied Cindy Blodgett’s single-game record with six 3-pointers as the Black Bears established school and league marks while knocking down 14 3-pointers en route to a decisive 80-59 America East victory over Vermont.

McCormick hit six of 13 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 22 points. She added four assists. Amy Vachon hit four 3’s, while Kelly Bowman and Kizzy Lopez added two each as UMaine bombed Vermont into submission.

“I was just sneaking behind the defense,” McCormick said. “I mean, they weren’t really looking for me. My teammates were just getting me the ball where I wanted it. I was just setting up and shooting.”

Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie’s 17-5 Bears moved within a game of clinching the league regular-season title, improving 12-1 in America East. Vermont dropped to 13-9 and 8-5, respectively.

UMaine dismantled the Catamounts’ defense with a multipronged attack made possible by good decisions, crisp passing, and accurate shooting. Coupled with outstanding defense, the hosts built a commanding 29-point lead barely 10 minutes into the contest.

UMaine connected on 10 of 19 first-half 3-point tries (53 percent).

“I thought they did a great job really generating a lot of energy on the floor by feeding off of each other,” Palombo said. “Our team did a good job responding to what was open.”

The Bears started off by feeding the ball inside to Jamie Cassidy, who scored eight of Maine’s first 11 points. When Vermont tried to collapse on Cassidy, she and Vachon kicked the ball back outside.

McCormick responded, connecting on four of her five first-half 3-pointers to spark the initial surge. Cassidy fed her twice and Vachon set her up on the others with penetrate-and-dish plays.

Vachon added two bombs and Bowman made another as the Bears built a 35-6 bulge with 9:40 left in the half.

“I thought when Kristen hit a few and Amy hit a couple, they were going to spread it out a little bit,” Cassidy said, “but they still kept [the defense] packed in, so I was, like, `Here you go guys, just keep taking them.’ ”

Cassidy finished with 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds, blocked six shots, and made four assists in a strong outing. Vachon provided 12 points, 12 assists, and six rebounds, while Bowman added 10 points.

Karalyn Church led Vermont with 18 points and nine rebounds. Her efforts were hindered by the tenacious defense of Cassidy, who blocked five of Church’s 17 shots.

Christie Lauzon netted 14 points, including four 3-pointers, for UVM.

Vermont made Maine earn it. Kerry Duggan drilled three 3-pointers to spearhead a 14-0 flurry that got the Cats within 44-27 at halftime. Trailing 56-38 with 14:59 to play, UVM used a 9-0 run to cut Maine’s lead to nine points.

That’s when UMaine tightened up its defense and again began finding the range from long range. McCormick, Kizzy Lopez and Vachon hit 3-pointers to fuel an 11-4 burst that restored the lead to 16 points at 67-51 with 6:58 to play.

“At one point, we had enough timeouts tonight that I told the whole story of the game,” joked Vermont coach Keith Cieplicki. “It would have been nice to get back in it, but let’s be honest, Maine played well enough not to let us back in it.”

Black Bears 80, Catamounts 59

Vermont women (13-9) Maine (17-5)

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

Smith 1 6 4 4 7 Lopez 2 5 0 0 6

Church 8 17 2 5 18 Clark 0 1 0 0 0

Zornow 1 4 4 4 6 Cassidy 9 19 0 2 18

MacAuley 0 5 0 0 0 McCormick 8 17 0 0 22

Lauzon 5 9 0 0 14 Vachon 4 9 0 0 12

Burroughs 0 0 0 0 0 Macream 0 1 0 0 0

Michaud 0 0 0 2 0 Clark 1 3 1 2 3

Duggan 3 6 0 0 9 Bowman 4 9 0 0 10

Mintzer 0 0 1 2 1 Guerrette 0 0 0 0 0

Dodge 1 3 0 2 2 Tinklova 3 6 3 3 9

Coleman 1 4 0 0 2 Moldre 0 0 0 0 0

Pardilla 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 54 11 19 59 Totals 31 70 4 7 80

Vermont 27 59

Maine 44 80

3-pt. goals: Vermont (8-17): Lauzon 4-8, Duggan 3-5, Smith 1-2, MacAuley 0-2; Maine (14-31): McCormick 6-13, Vachon 4-6, Bowman 2-5, Lopez 2-4, Cassidy 0-2, Macream 0-1

Attendance: 3,092