Bears sharp on offense in defeating Spartak UM prepares to face No. 2 LSU Tigers

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ORONO – Sharon Versyp spends most of her time harping on defense and rebounding.

Yet even the fifth-year coach of the University of Maine women’s basketball team had to be pleased with the offensive performance her team put together Wednesday night.

Senior guard Missy Traversi connected for a game-high 17 points and was among five double-figure scorers as the Black Bears rolled to a 93-60 exhibition victory over Spartak Moscow in front of an estimated 600 fans at Alfond Arena.

UMaine, playing its only preseason game before taking on No. 2 Louisiana State a week from today, put 12 players in the scoring column with a cohesive, balanced effort.

“They were disciplined tonight,” Versyp said. “We shared the basketball and we did a lot of good things in a lot of different ways.”

Despite the departure of three top scorers to graduation and the influx of four newcomers, the Bears demonstrated good chemistry and played unselfishly on the offensive end.

“We have some talent and we showed that tonight,” said Traversi, who went 7-for-11 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds.

“In the past, we’ve usually looked to our go-to player, Heather Ernest, and she’s a phenomenal player, but this year we have people spreading the offense out. We have multiple threats.”

Among those threats were sophomore forward Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor and junior forward Katie Whittier of New Gloucester. Barker, who has moved from the wing to power forward, provided 12 points and five rebounds. Whittier scored 10 points.

“We’re working together really well,” said Barker, who is adjusting to her new role.

“It’s totally different moving from three [small forward] to four, but you also take your guard skills down to the post with you, so that gives you an advantage,” she said. “It’s a lot more intense down there, a lot more physical.”

Senior center Nicole Jay contributed 10 points and six rebounds, while senior point guard Kim Corbitt netted 10 points and handed out seven assists. Freshman point guard Margaret Elderton also was solid with seven points, two assists, and no turnovers.

Svetlana Khusainova led the Russian squad with 15 points. UMaine outrebounded Spartak 33-28.

Versyp remains focused on the Bears’ defensive play and the need for improvement.

“The key thing that we didn’t do was transition defense,” said Versyp, whose team played strictly man-to-man.

UMaine committed only 11 turnovers while Spartak had 22.

The hosts came out firing off the opening tip as Jay scored from underneath off a Corbitt feed after a Spartak turnover. Corbitt then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and scored.

At the other end, Traversi came up with a steal and cashed in with a fast-break layup. Corbitt followed with another steal and fired a perfect bounce pass to set up a Traversi layup that made it 8-0 only 1:32 into the contest.

“I thought Kim and Missy really set the tempo,” Versyp said.

The Bears demonstrated an effective offense during a 52-point first half. They played well in transition and also had success in their half-court sets while building a comfortable 52-27 halftime advantage.

The Bears, who shot 53 percent (17-for-32) from the floor in the half, maintained their offensive continuity despite frequent substitutions.

Defensively, UMaine had some matchup difficulties with the rangy but quick Russian squad. Still, the Bears were able to limit second shots by rebounding aggressively and were the beneficiaries of 13 Spartak turnovers.

BLACK BEARS 93, SPARTAK 60

Spartak Moscow (0-2) Maine (1-0, exhib.)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Khusainova 7 15 1 1 15 Traversi 7 11 1 2 17

Bezgina 2 5 6 6 10 Jay 4 5 10

Timofeeva 2 5 0 0 4 Corbitt 3 4 10

Romanova 2 7 0 0 5 Barker 4 10 12

Nevsorova 4 8 0 0 8 Peterson 4 8

Khodjayan 0 0 0 0 0 Underwood 2 10 3 4 8

Charikova 0 1 0 0 0 Hugstd-Vaa 2 4

Ruzic 4 12 2 2 11 Whittier 3 10

Libicheva 0 1 0 0 0 Elderton 3 7

Chichaikina 0 0 0 0 0 Schrader 1 4

Telegina 2 4 2 2 7 Bryant 1 1 2

Pullen 0 0 1 1

Younan 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 58 11 11 60 Totals 34 63 19 26 93

Spartak Moscow 27 60

Maine 52 93

3-pt. goals – Spartak (3-13): Bezgina 0-1, Romanova 1-3, Charikova 0-1, Ruzic 1-5, Telegina 1-3; Maine (6-18): Traversi 2-4, Underwood 1-7, Elderton 1-1, Corbitt 0-1, Barker 2-5

Attendance: 600 (est.)