Maine hits key ‘3s’ in victory Bears hold off Northeastern

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BOSTON – The University of Maine women’s basketball team was in a zone Saturday afternoon at Solomon Court.

Figuratively, the Black Bears were in a zone while connecting on 9 of 13 3-pointers (69 percent). Literally, they benefited from playing a 1-2-2 matchup zone that enabled them to take advantage of their frontcourt prowess.

UMaine led most of the way, then staved off a determined Northeastern comeback to earn a 68-65 America East victory.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s team, which stumbled late in Wednesday’s home loss to Hartford, made the plays to win Saturday’s game.

“It was a close game. It got tied, they went ahead by two, and then we responded,” Versyp said. “We executed, we didn’t play hesitant and tentative, and we got to that foul line.”

UMaine improved to 8-8 overall, 4-2 in conference play. Northeastern slipped to 7-8, 2-4 in America East.

The outcome was in doubt until the Bears’ final possession. Kim Corbitt set up the winning basket by beating NU defender Maralene Zwarich and finding Ashley Underwood, who hit a wide-open 3-pointer with 12.1 seconds left to give UMaine a five-point lead.

“It was like make one move, get by her and hopefully get fouled or find the open player,” Corbitt said. “Ashley was open on a 3 and knocked down a big shot for us.”

Corbitt paced a balanced UMaine effort with a career-high 17 points and Missy Traversi went 4-for-4 from 3-point range while scoring 14 of her 16 points in the first half.

Versatile sophomore Bracey Barker scored 16 points, all in the second half, and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds for the Bears, who shot 47 percent from the field. She added three blocked shots and two steals.

“I think this game obviously will help her build that confidence and it should build confidence for everybody,” Versyp said.

Abby Schrader provided seven points, five rebounds and four blocks and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa added four points and four assists for UMaine, which utilized the zone to contend with the Huskies’ slippery post players.

“I thought Lindsey came in and made some great passing decisions,” Versyp said. “Abby, Lindsey and Bracey did a great job inside.”

Freshman Shaleyse Smallwood paced Northeastern with a game-high 21 points and six rebounds. League scoring leader Maralene Zwarich netted 16 points, while Francesca Vanin and Michelle Decerbo added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Huskies outrebounded the Bears 36-27 and shot 44 percent from the floor.

UMaine, which led by as many as 11 points in the first half, never had an advantage of more than seven points after halftime.

NU abandoned the 2-3 zone that had been so forgiving in the first half and played mostly man-to-man. That gave the Bears a chance to utilize their post attack.

Barker and Schrader took advantage of strong moves in the lane to help set the tone.

“The first half I wasn’t doing anything,” Barker said. “I wasn’t shooting, I wasn’t attacking the basket, and that’s what I’ve been working on the last couple of weeks.”

UMaine was able to get high-percentage shots and draw fouls to keep the Huskies at bay.

“I thought that might have gotten away from us, but then we just started pounding it inside and I was really proud of our post players,” Versyp said.

Northeastern got more open looks from outside in the second half, going 5-for-8 on 3-pointers. NU tied the game on a Smallwood 3-pointer, then took a 52-50 lead on two Michelle Decerbo free throws with 7:13 left.

“We thought we should pack it in, try to prevent them for making a lot of inside shots, try to make them beat us from the outside,” Corbitt said.

UMaine regained the momentum on Corbitt’s driving layup, a baseline move and layup by Barker and two Barker foul shots that gave the Bears a 56-52 edge with 5:20 to play. They didn’t relinquish the lead after that.

Traversi helped stake UMaine to an early lead. She quickly buried a 3-pointer and an eight-footer from the lane, then followed Corbitt’s runner in the paint with another 3-pointer to give the Bears a 17-8 advantage with 11:56 left in the half.

Monica Peterson’s outstanding defense helped limit Zwarich to two points on 1-for-6 shooting in the first half.

BLACK BEARS 68, HUSKIES 65

Maine (8-8) Northeastern (7-8)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hugstad-Vaa 2 5 0 0 4 Smallwood 8 14 2 3 21

Corbitt 5 9 5 6 17 Pablos 2 7 5

Barker 5 11 5 8 16 Zwarich 5 13 16

Peterson 1 6 0 0 2 Vanin 4 11 11

Schrader 3 6 1 1 7 Decerbo 4 9 10

Traversi 5 10 2 2 16 Hodell 0 0 0

Underwood 2 2 0 0 6 Sheppard 1 2

Whittier 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 23 49 13 17 68 24 55 11 18 65

Maine 29 68

Northeastern 25 65

3-pt. goals – Maine (9-13): Traversi 4-6, Corbitt 2-2, Underwood 2-2, Barker 1-3; Northeastern (6-12): Smallwood 3-4, Zwarich 3-7, Pablos 0-1

Attendance: 387