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DURHAM, N.H. – The University of Maine women’s basketball team put itself in a position Tuesday night to need another big comeback.
On Saturday, the Black Bears erased a 19-point deficit against Vermont and won. This time, they couldn’t get over the hump.
New Hampshire built a 15-point, second-half lead, then withstood a furious rally by UMaine on its way to a 60-57 America East victory at Lundholm Gymnasium.
“Maine’s a great team and they made a real strong run at us. We knew they’d come,” said New Hampshire coach Sue Johnson. “That’s a great win for the program.”
UMaine slipped to 6-7 overall, 2-1 in league play, with a largely uninspired performance.
New Hampshire (7-5, 3-0 AE) beat the Bears for the first time in 10 games dating back to 1991. The Wildcats, who went into the game with a league-worst .344 field-goal percentage, shot 45 percent.
“All the credit in the world to New Hampshire. They played great tonight,” said UMaine senior Missy Traversi. “They shut us out of our offense.”
Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor paced the sporadic UMaine offense with 15 points, while Traversi scored 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting. Kim Corbitt provided 10 points, eight assists and four steals and Ashley Underwood added 10 points for the Bears.
UNH turned in a well-rounded effort with Ray Williams’ 14 points and eight rebounds leading the charge. Lindsay Adams contributed 12 points and six rebounds for the Wildcats, who went 7-for-16 (.438) from 3-point range and had 10 players in the scoring column.
Defense set the tone as New Hampshire’s aggressive man-to-man play successfully took UMaine out of its rhythm much of the way.
“We didn’t execute. We bailed out of every offense,” said UMaine coach Sharon Versyp. “That’s not characteristic of the teams that I coach.”
In the meantime, the Wildcats exploited their ability to get the ball inside effectively.
The outcome was in doubt until the final horn. Maine native Danielle Clark (7 points) made the second of two foul shots to give UNH a 60-57 lead with 15.6 seconds remaining.
The Bears set up their offense and Traversi faked her way open for a 3-point try from the right side. The shot missed but was rebounded by Traversi, who got open for a last-ditch 3-pointer as time expired.
“I missed them,” Traversi said. “We had two looks and just fell short.”
UNH, which led 29-25 at halftime, maintained its offensive flow early in the second half, scoring seven straight points while extending its lead to 36-27 with 18:18 remaining. As the Bears’ defensive woes continued, the hosts pushed the advantage to 44-29 on Clark’s 3-pointer with 14:49 to play.
UMaine seemed to get fired up after freshman guard Margaret Elderton suffered an injury to her left knee after making a steal with 13:27 left.
Sparked by the tenacious pressure defense of Corbitt, Traversi and Underwood, the Bears outscored the Wildcats 16-2 to get UMaine within 48-47 with 6:42 left.
Abby Schrader opened the run with a low-post bucket and Corbitt hit a 10-footer from the lane before Barker and Corbitt sandwiched two foul shots each around an inside hoop by UNH’s Williams.
Barker then drained a 3-pointer, Underwood made two free throws and Traversi nailed a 3 to make it a one-point game.
“Coach said it took one of our players to get hurt for us to get really fired up and that’s pathetic,” Traversi said. “We need to be fired up two halves.”
The Wildcats held on. Adams scored three points during a 6-0 run that restored the lead to seven, then Williams answered a Peterson jumper with a three-point play that made it 57-49 with 2:47 left.
The Wildcats ran their offense well in the first half, shooting 57 percent from the floor (12-for-21). UMaine was unable to establish any sort of flow offensively against UNH’s man-to-man.
The Bears worked the ball around looking for close-range shots, but were unable to do so effectively.
Trailing 23-21, the ‘Cats rattled off seven unanswered points during a span of 2:02. Adams sandwiched a scoop shot from the baseline and a rebound basket around a Kelly Haines 3-pointer, giving the hosts a 28-23 lead with 1:28 left in the half.
New Hampshire could have owned a more substantial lead had it not been for its 10 turnovers, most of which were unforced. UMaine committed eight.
WILDCATS 60, BLACK BEARS 57
Maine (6-7) New Hampshire (7-5)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Traversi 5 15 0 0 12 Edwards 2 6 6
Underwood 3 11 3 3 10 Woods 2 7 7
Corbitt 4 6 2 2 10 Poulin 1 3 2
Barker 4 9 6 7 15 Adams 5 9 12
Peterson 3 6 0 2 6 Williams 5 11 4 6 14
Hugstad-Vaa 0 1 0 0 0 Hardy 1 2 2
Whittier 0 0 0 0 0 Cerniglia 1 2
Elderton 0 1 0 0 0 Dillon 1 1 5
Schrader 2 6 0 0 4 Haines 1 1 3
Clark 2 4 1 7
Totals 21 55 11 14 57 Totals 21 47 11 20 60
Maine 25 57
New Hampshire 29 60
3-pt. goals – Maine (4-15): Traversi 2-6, Underwood 1-6, Barker 1-1, Elderton 0-1, Corbitt 0-1; New Hampshire (7-16): Woods 2-5, Clark 2-2, Edwards 1-2, Dillon 1-1, Haines 1-1, Poulin 0-1, Adams 0-2, Hardy 0-1
Attendance: 386
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