Bluejays hold off UMaine Pressure relentless

loading...

ORONO – The University of Maine women’s basketball team was adept enough at handling Creighton’s full-court pressure Thursday night that coach Jim Flanery uncharacteristically called it off – for a while.

With the Black Bears gaining momentum during the second half of their Women’s National Invitation Tournament first-round game, the Bluejays’ press helped keep them on top.

UMaine committed a handful of late turnovers in the face of Creighton’s pressure and the visitors calmly made their foul shots down the stretch to earn a 74-67 victory in front of 1,706 fans at Alfond Arena.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s Bears closed out a stellar season at 25-6, but not before pushing the 22-8 Bluejays to the limit.

“Our kids played our hearts out,” Versyp said. “I have so much pride in how they played today.”

Creighton had problems dealing with UMaine’s potent post attack, but the Bluejays found ways to counter that advantage. Their scrappy rebounding gave them numerous second chances on the offensive end and they forced the Bears (20 turnovers) into making some ill-advised passes.

The effects of the pressure seemed to be cumulative.

“We’re not used to playing 40 minutes of uptempo basketball like they are,” said Heather Ernest of Temple, who led UMaine with game-highs of 25 points and 15 rebounds. “We just started making some bad decisions.”

The game was tied when Angie Janis (10 points, 8 rebounds) drove in for a layup to give Creighton a 67-65 lead with 1:43 left. UMaine had a chance to tie it, but Monica Peterson’s drive to the hoop missed.

The Jays held for a shot and missed, but Janis tracked down the loose rebound, which allowed them to run off more clock before shooting again. This time, Christy Neneman (22 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals) was fouled and made both shots to make it 69-65 with 37.8 seconds to play.

The Bears countered with Ernest’s putback at 27.0, then quickly fouled. Codi Walker made one of two to put CU up by three.

However, Melissa Heon got trapped on the baseline and turned the ball over, which led to another foul, two Nenemen free throws, and a five-point lead with only 15.6 seconds left.

“It’s definitely not fun to go out this way, but the experience of being able to be here was good for us,” Ernest said. “We really wanted to make sure that we played our hearts out.”

Creighton hit 19 of 21 from the foul line, including 14 of 15 in the second half.

“That was a big difference at the end of the game when you can step up [and make them],” Flanery said.

Peterson contributed 17 points and six boards for UMaine while Heon added six points, four assists, and two steals. The Bears’ guards weren’t able to complement the post game consistently.

UMaine finished with a slim 38-34 rebounding edge, but Creighton hustled its way to 16 offensive boards that gave them more opportunities.

“The thing that they did best is they were able to get second-chance points,” Versyp said. “I think that’s what really hurt us at the end. And a few people made some very poor decisions at the end of the game.”

Creighton got its transition offense in gear early in the second half. Dayna Finch (10 points) hit a layup off a turnover, then buried a 3-pointer during a 15-5 run that eventually helped the Jays build a 53-43 lead with 12:22 to play.

UMaine hung tough as Ernest later sandwiched a close-range hoop and an offensive rebound basket around a Missy Traversi 3-pointer to creep within 56-52 with 9:39 left. The Jays answered again, but the Bears finally equalized at 61-61 with 5:54 left on the strength of a 7-0 flurry that included back-to-back hoops by Julie Veilleux.

However, the Bears seemed to get frazzled during the next three minutes and threw the ball away on four consecutive possessions.

The Bluejays held a 34-32 halftime lead on the strength of their five 3-pointers and their scrappy rebounding.

BLUE JAYS 74, BLACK BEARS 67

Creighton (22-8) Maine (25-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Spanheimer 6 12 0 0 15 Heon 2 4 6

Neneman 7 20 7 7 22 Ernest 10 18 25

Finch 2 9 0 0 5 Corbitt 3 8 6

Wessling 1 3 6 6 8 Veilleux 2 4

Burns 4 7 0 0 10 Peterson 6 12 5 6 17

Vrbicky 0 0 2 2 2 Traversi 1 5

Walker 1 6 0 0 2 Geraghty 1 2

Janis 3 8 4 6 10 Gay 1 1 2

Hildebrand 0 0 0 0 0 Schrader 0 0

Totals 24 65 19 21 74 26 51 14 20 67

Creighton 34 74

Maine 32 67

3-pt. goals ? Creighton (7-20): Spanheimer 3-7, Burne 2-4, Finch 1-4, Neneman 1-4, Janis 0-1; Maine (1-2): Traversi 1-2

Attendance: 1,706