Mustangs round up win vs. Bears

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DALLAS – There’s something about the Southern Methodist University defense that makes scoring a struggle for the University of Maine.

The Mustangs limited the Black Bears to 28.5 percent floor shooting and caused several of UMaine’s 22 turnovers with pressure defense Sunday on their way to a 58-44 women’s basketball victory at Moody Coliseum.

SMU (2-0), which had limited UMaine to 43 points in a one-point victory in Orono last season, shut down the Bears again.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s UMaine squad dipped to 0-3. The Bears return to action Friday at 7 p.m. against Loyola of Chicago in the first round of the annual Dead River Co. Classic at Alfond Arena in Orono.

The Bears did not play well, according to Versyp.

“We took an excruciating step back,” she said. “It’s a 360 turnaround from when we played LSU and Virginia. I’m extremely disappointed with the way we played.”

The Mustangs scored 19 points off UMaine turnovers and outscored the Bears 30-20 in the paint while shooting only 39 percent from the field.

Monica Peterson led the Bears with 10 points, while Kim Corbitt provided nine points and five rebounds. Bracey Barker chipped in with seven points, five rebounds and four steals and Missy Traversi added eight points.

Nicole Jay grabbed nine rebounds to pace UMaine.

“We didn’t execute one play,” Versyp said. “We were very selfish and did not play disciplined.”

Sarah Davis led SMU with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Kendall Shead racked up 11 points, eight rebounds, seven steals and six assists. Janielle Dodds posted 13 points and six rebounds.

The Mustangs came up with 14 steals.

“I’m going to give SMU credit,” Versyp said. “They played hard every single second.”

“We had 22 turnovers and I would have to say 10 of those were unforced turnovers, really silly mistakes, not playing strong, not being aggressive,” Versyp added.

SMU gained the upper hand by outscoring UMaine 12-3 during a span of seven minutes, 19 seconds in the first half. The Bears managed only a Peterson layup and a free throw by Barker during that time as the hosts increased their lead to 22-11 with 4:34 left in the half.

UMaine was still within 11 points at 40-29 with 10:05 remaining in the contest. However, Shepherd opened a 12-2 scoring spurt with a 3-pointer and capped it with a jumper, giving the Mustangs a 52-31 advantage with 5:46 to play.

“Right now I’m just concerned about us playing hard and competing and we didn’t do that today,” Versyp said. “We’ve got to really come together and be more disciplined and get off to a better start.”

MUSTANGS 58, BLACK BEARS 44

Maine (0-3) So. Methodist (2-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Traversi 2 8 2 2 8 Shead 5 10 11

Corbitt 3 5 2 2 9 Cobb 0 8 0

Barker 1 4 5 6 7 Dodds 6 13 13

Peterson 5 10 0 0 10 Greenard 3 6

Schrader 0 4 0 0 0 Davis 4 7 14

Underwood 0 8 2 2 2 Shepherd 3 7

Hugstad-Vaa 0 2 0 0 0 Roberts 2 9 7

Jay 1 2 2 2 4 Barker 0 1 0 0

Whittier 1 4 0 0 2

Elderton 1 2 0 0 2

Totals 14 49 13 14 44 Totals 23 59 15 58

Maine 17 44

SMU 24 58

3-pt. goals – Maine (3-16): Traversi 2-6, Corbitt 1-1, Barker 0-2, Underwood 0-6, Elderton 0-1; Southern Methodist (3-8): Shead 1-3, Dodds 0-2, Greenard 0-1, Davis 1-1, Shepherd 1-1

Attendance: 542