Black Bears rally to knock off Chippewas> Resiliency pays off again for Maine

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ORONO – One could use a variety of adjectives to describe this season’s University of Maine women’s basketball team. “Resilient” best explains how the squad played Friday night.

The Black Bears overcame spotty defense and inconsistent offense, erasing a 12-point second-half deficit in the last 13 minutes while rallying for a 78-65 victory over Central Michigan in the first round of the Dead River Company Classic at Alfond Arena.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s 2-0 Bears take on 3-0 Florida in tonight’s 7 o’clock championship game. Harvard (0-2) and Central Michigan (0-3) meet in the 4:30 p.m. contest.

A young UMaine team demonstrated its ability and desire to fight back, delighting the crowd of 2,839.

“I thought our young kids weathered the storm really well,” Versyp said. “I thought at times we showed immaturity but also we really did a nice job at the end being real resilient.

“I’m very pleased because it really showed the heart and the guts of our kids,” she added.

Sophomore center Christy Grover of Bucksport led UMaine, posting career highs with 17 points and 12 rebounds. She also blocked three shots.

Ellen Geraghty scored 13 points, Heather Ernest of Temple provided 12 points and 10 rebounds and Tracy Guerrette of St. Agatha added nine points for the Bears, who shot 59 percent in the second half.

“It was definitely a question of heart,” Grover said. “We may have questioned ourselves a little bit, but we came back in the second half and we gave everything [we had].”

UMaine appeared to be in trouble seven minutes into the second half as the Chippewas extended their lead to 51-39, but the Bears refused to quit. The Bears got a lift from senior co-captain Kizzy Lopez (9 points, 3 steals), who sat out the last 17 minutes of the first half with two fouls.

Lopez’s leadership was evident as UMaine rattled off a 9-0 scoring spurt, which included four points by Grover. The Bears then answered a CMU basket with a game-winning 18-3 run.

Christy Grover led the Bears with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Ellen Geraghty contributed 13 points, Heather Ernest 12 to go with 10 rebounds and Tracy Guerrette handed out seven assists.

Vershaun Jones paced a balanced Central Michigan squad with 16 points and eight rebounds. Beth Kindel contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds, while Molly Munz added 12 points and five steals.

“We just needed to get after it,” Geraghty said. “You saw Central Michigan have so much heart and we just needed to get the same thing.”

UMaine trailed 51-48 when Lopez’s one-handed shot from close range ignited the game-winning 18-3 run at the 9:06 mark. Guerrette made a scoop shot, then Melissa Heon followed to free throws by CMU’s Kindel with a fast-break layup.

Anna James scored on an offensive rebound, giving the Bears a 56-55 lead with 6:57 left while sending the crowd into a frenzy.

After a Mandy Elwer foul shot, Lopez scored twice to spark a 10-0 flurry that gave the hosts a 66-56 lead with 1:36 to play.

“I think we were very confident in each other,” Grover said. “We’re young. We look at Kizzy as a leader and she was out there and our confidence was up.”

Central Michigan had turned a four-point halftime lead into a 49-37 advantage while attacking the middle of the UMaine defense. The Chippewas’ crisp passing and hot shooting resulted in an 11-2 flurry that had the UMaine crowd grumbling.

However, the Bears bounced back with better defense, mixing their man-to-man, 1-2-2 and zone trapping sets.

“We started trapping and that’s what caused their tempo to be a little more uneasy,” Versyp said. “They took some [quick] shots and we were able to box out and run a little bit.”

In the first game, Florida capitalized on its backcourt quickness, frontcourt size and overall athleticism while slowly pulling away from a scrappy Harvard squad.

The Crimson hung close in the early going thanks to their tenacious defense and 5-for-11 effort 3-point shooting, but they didn’t have any answers for Brandi McCain or Vanessa Hayden.

McCain, a speedy junior guard, used her quickness to create numerous scoring opportunities for herself and her teammates. She scored 19 points, handed out five assists and provided scrappy defense for the Gators.

Hayden, a 6-foot-4 center, owned the paint. The powerful freshman demonstrated a soft shooting touch inside, hitting nine of 10 shots en route to a game-high 22 points. She also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Florida’s post defense made Harvard settle mostly for outside shots as the Gators scored 38 points in the paint compared to eight for the Crimson.

Tombi Bell added 11 points and four assists for the winners, while Jameelah Trimble netted 10 points. Naomi Mobley added eight points and eight rebounds.

Lindsay Ryba paced Harvard with 21 points on 5-for-6 accuracy from beyond the 3-point line. Katie Gates (four 3-pointers) and Hana Peljto added 12 points each.

Florida outrebounded Harvard 45-32, forced 20 turnovers and shot 45 percent from the floor.

Gators 78, Crimson 56 Harvard (0-2) 56

Kowal 1-0-2, Ides 1-0-3, Monti 0-1-1, Peljto 2-8-12, Gates 4-0-12, Tubridy 0-0-0, Ryba 7-2-21, Lee 0-0-0, Larkworthy 2-0-5, Johnson 0-0-0, Kelley 0-0-0

Florida (3-0) 78

Stocks 0-0-0, Bell 4-1-11, McCain 6-7-19, Cardenas 2-1-5, Trimble 4-2-10, Moore 0-0-0, Hills 1-0-3, Knight 0-0-0, DeLoach 0-0-0, Mobley 3-2-8, Hayden 9-4-22

3-pt. goals: Ides, Gates 4, Ryba 5, Larkworthy; Bell 2, Hills

Halftime: Florida 42-28

Black Bears 78, Chippewas 65

Central Michigan (0-2) Maine (2-0)

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

Henderson 2 3 2 3 6 Lopez 4 7 1 3 9

Munz 4 16 1 2 12 Stone 2 5 0 0 6

Elwer 4 9 1 2 9 Geraghty 5 8 2 2 13

Jones 7 10 2 4 16 James 2 4 2 4 6

Kindel 3 18 6 6 12 Grover 5 10 7 7 17

Eidson 0 0 0 0 0 Heon 1 3 0 0 2

Rozak 4 11 2 4 10 Moldre 0 0 0 0 0

Ernest 5 11 2 2 12

Guerrette 3 5 2 2 9

Veilleux 2 7 0 0 4

Totals 24 67 14 21 65 Totals 29 60 16 19 78

Central Michigan 34 65

Maine 30 78

3-pt. goals: Central Michigan (3-15): Munz 3-11, Henderson 0-1, Rozak 0-3; Maine (4-14): Stone 2-4, Geraghty 1-1, Guerrette 1-1, Lopez 0-1, Heon 0-2, Ernest 0-2, Veilleux 0-3

Attendance: 2,839