Florida rolls to 87-41 win over Maine

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ORONO – There have been precious few games in recent years during which the University of Maine women’s basketball team was completely overmatched.

Saturday night’s Dead River Company Classic championship was one of those rare occasions.

The Florida Gators dictated the action from the outset, dominating UMaine at both ends of the floor on their way to an easy 87-41 victory at Alfond Arena.

Coach Carol Ross’ Gators overwhelmed the 2-1 Black Bears with exceptional quickness, intimidating frontcourt height, overall balance and athleticism. The 46-point defeat witnessed by a crowd of 2,880 was the most lopsided in the 25-year history of the UMaine women’s program since a 115-57 loss to Virginia in 1984.

“They’ve got a lot of quickness, a lot of athletic ability,” Versyp said. “They just outplayed us at every single position today.”

Speedy junior guard Brandi McCain was a unanimous choice as tournament Most Valuable Player, leading 4-0 Florida with a game-high 27 points, including six 3-pointers, along with six steals and four assists.

Florida’s Monique Cardenas (15 points, 8 rebounds), Naomi Mobley (13 pts., 7 rebs.) and Tombi Bell (8 pts., 7 assists, 3 steals) joined McCain on the all-tourney squad along with Christy Grover of Maine and Central Michigan’s Molli Munz.

Central Michigan beat Harvard 69-52 in the consolation game.

Saturday’s loss was tough for UMaine to swallow, especially after the Bears had taken both No. 3 Georgia and Mississippi to overtime in the previous two Dead River championship contests before losing.

Florida, which finished sixth last season in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference, made sure there would be no suspense this time. The Gators outscored the Bears 28-14 in the paint, holding UMaine without a basket in the lane the entire first half.

Florida’s aggressive defense also led to 26 turnovers by the Bears and the Gators cashed in for 32 points off UMaine miscues.

“I think we were afraid to go to the hole and execute and do the things that we needed to do,” said UMaine senior captain Kizzy Lopez. “Because we didn’t do that, and because we didn’t come together, that was the result. We need to learn how to attack all the time – it doesn’t matter who we’re playing – and not let other teams get to us.”

The Gators scored 15 seconds into the game on a 3-pointer by Cardenas, who hit a 14-footer and converted a conventional three-point play during a subsequent 8-0 scoring run that gave Florida a 16-2 lead.

UMaine appeared intimidated at the offensive end and didn’t manage its first field goal until Julie Veilleux made a baseline jumper at the 12:59 mark. The Bears hung around until Florida scored 10 unanswered points during a span of 2:13.

Mobley scored from underneath, McCain converted a conventional three-point play, Cardenas drilled a 3-pointer and Mobley took a Bell feed and scored from the baseline to give Florida a 33-11 lead with 5:10 left in the first half. UMaine never recovered.

“The University of Florida totally took us out of our rhythm,” Versyp said. “Our kids are not used to seeing that type of defense, people being that aggressive… They were hesitant. They weren’t aggressive. Nobody wanted to take a shot and that was a problem.”

UMaine did not have a player in double figures, but sophomore center Grover finished with eight points and six rebounds. She battled relentlessly against Florida’s formidable frontcourt players.

Lacey Stone added eight points, while Heather Ernest contributed seven points and five rebounds. The Bears shot 28 percent from the field and were outrebounded 46-35.

The Gators, who led by 21 at intermission, made sure there would be no UMaine comeback. Florida outscored the Bears 18-4 during the first seven minutes of the second half and eventually led by as many as 49 points.

The Bears know they must pick up the pieces, refocus and move on.

“I’m disappointed, but obviously I love this team,” Lopez said. “We’re a great team. We’ve got a lot of things to learn. There’s a lot of great things that we can take from this. It’s what we’re going to do with it that’s going to matter the most.”

In the consolation game, the Chippewas outscored the Crimson 16-5 during a nine-minute span of the second half, turning a 10-point lead into a commanding 21-point advantage.

Mandy Elwer scored six points and Laurie Henderson netted five during the pivotal run, which gave Central Michigan a 53-32 lead with 9:47 remaining.

The Chippewas scored 29 points as a direct result of Harvard turnovers and limited the Crimson to 12 points in the paint.

Munz paced the winners with a game-high 26 points. Henderson provided 15 points, while Vershaun Jones added 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Bree Kelley paced Harvard with 11 points. Hana Peljto had 10 points and six rebounds.

Harvard (0-3) 52

Kowal 1-0-3, Ides 0-2-2, Monti 2-0-5, Peljto 5-0-10, Gates 2-1-7, Tubridy 2-0-4, Ryba 1-0-3, Lee 2-0-5, Barnard, Dunham, Larkworthy, Johnson, Kelley 4-0-11, Nunamaker 0-2-2

Central Michigan (1-3) 69

Henderson 6-3-15, Munz 7-8-26, Elwer 4-2-10, Jones 4-4-12, Kindel 1-3-5, Petrie, Lawinger, Eidson, Rozak 0-1-1, Harmon

3-pt. goals: Kowal, Monti, Gates 2, Ryba, Lee, Kelley 3; Munz 4,

Halftime: Central Michigan 35-24

Gators 87, Black Bears 41

Florida (4-0) Maine (2-1)

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

Stocks 3 7 0 0 6 Ernest 3 6 1 2 7

Bell 2 5 4 5 8 Guerrette 0 2 0 2 0

McCain 9 18 3 3 27 Lopez 1 3 1 3 4

Cardenas 5 12 3 3 15 Geraghty 1 8 2 2 4

Trimble 1 4 0 0 4 Grover 1 9 6 8 8

Moore 0 1 0 0 0 Heon 0 3 2 2 2

Hills 2 4 0 0 6 Moldre 2 4 0 0 4

Knight 0 4 0 0 0 Stone 3 5 0 0 8

DeLoach 0 1 6 6 6 Veilleux 2 4 0 0 4

Mobley 6 11 1 3 13 Sobel 0 0 0 0 0

Hayden 2 5 0 1 4 James 0 2 0 0 0

Totals 30 72 17 21 87 Totals 13 46 12 19 41

Florida 39 87

Maine 18 41

3-pt. goals: Florida (10-20): Bell 0-3, McCain 6-11, Cardenas 2-3, Hills 2-3; Maine (3-9): Ernest 0-1, Guerrette 0-1, Lopez 1-1, Geraghty 0-1, Heon 0-3, Stone 2-2

Attendance: 2,880