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PORTLAND – During much of its recent monthlong road swing, the University of Maine women’s basketball team tried to play under control and slow down some talented opponents.
Monday afternoon, albeit against a strong Holy Cross team, the Black Bears shifted back into attack mode.
Bracy Barker of Bar Harbor scored seven of her game-high 25 points to spark a key 14-3 second-half scoring run that helped lift UMaine to a 77-67 victory in front of 2,113 fans at the Cumberland County Civic Center.
Coach Ann McInerney’s Bears (4-6) remained aggressive against the Crusaders’ scrappy defense, which resulted in some high-percentage shots and numerous trips to the foul line.
“Our game plan tonight was to attack more than hold the ball and slow the tempo,” said UMaine junior Ashley Underwood of Benton. “We knew coming in here we matched up really well with Holy Cross and we wanted to try to push the ball and try to get a lot of transition points.”
UMaine, which earned its second straight win, converted 26 of 30 foul shots. That included a 13-for-15 performance by Underwood, who tossed in 17 points, made five steals and handed out four assists while logging a lot of minutes at point guard.
Senior center Abby Schrader was a powerful inside presence. She contributed 15 points and snatched 12 rebounds to help the Bears claim a commanding 45-22 advantage on the boards.
“I thought they played very well and rebounding was the story,” said Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons. “They were beating us to loose balls and loose rebounds.”
Katie Whittier of New Gloucester added eight points and five rebounds. Sophomore point guard Kris Younan, who played a lot at the two spot, harnessed her energetic play into a career-best seven assists with only two turnovers.
“[Younan] was terrific. She allowed us to go uptempo,” McInerney said. “Putting the ball in Ashley’s hand and letting Kris get out and run kind of opened up some opportunities for us to score.”
Jessica Conte led Holy Cross (4-8) with 20 points, while Kaitlin Foley was limited to 12 points and five rebounds with three steals.
UMaine led 44-43 when it put together the game’s most important spurt. Underwood kicked off the run with a three-point play on a driving transition layup and a free throw.
Barker followed by hitting a short jumper off an inbounds pass from Younan, Whittier knocked down a 19-footer, and Barker made two foul shots to give the Bears a 53-43 lead with 12:30 to play.
“I thought that run in the second half that Maine made was the key – where they really rebounded it and went out on the break,” Gibbons said.
Conte ended the surge with a 3-pointer, but Barker answered with a 3-pointer and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa made two free throws to give the Bears their biggest lead of the game at 58-46.
Behind four inside points from the 6-foot-4 Foley, Holy Cross later countered with an 8-2 spurt that cut the UMaine lead to 61-56 with 7:53 left.
However, the Bears played smart, efficient basketball down the stretch and made eight of 10 from the foul line to lock up the victory.
UMaine should take some momentum into Wednesday’s America East opener against Binghamton at Alfond Arena in Orono.
“We have these two wins as confidence going into the conference and it’s great to be back in our white uniforms, back in front of some people that actually want us to win,” Barker said.
Schrader scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds in the first half to help UMaine set the tone in the paint. Holy Cross shot well from outside early, but couldn’t establish its inside attack.
The Bears afforded the Crusaders only two offensive rebounds on the afternoon.
“We knew that we had to control the boards, which we had not been doing,” McInerney said. “We did a great job on that today.”
UMaine also committed only 16 turnovers, well below its average of 22.
BLACK BEARS 77, CRUSADERS 67
Holy Cross (4-8) Maine (4-6)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Keil 3 9 2 2 8 Whittier 3 6 8
Foley 4 9 4 7 12 Barker 10 20 25
Placek 4 7 0 0 9 Schrader 6 14 3 4 15
Bush 4 12 0 0 9 Undrwod 2 7 13 15 17
Conte 7 12 4 6 20 Elderton 3 6
Aloisi 2 2 1 2 7 Younan 0 1 0
Pearson 0 1 0 1 0 Hgstd-Vaa 1 5
McLaughln 0 1 2 2 2 Bryant 0 0 1
Kilmurray 0 0 0
Totals 24 53 13 20 67 Totals 25 56 26 30 77
Holy Cross 35 67
Maine 35 77
3-pt. goals – Holy Cross (6-18): Conte 2-5, Aloisi 2-2, Bush 1-6, Placek 1-3, Pearson 0-1, McLaughlin 0-1; Maine (1-9): Barker 1-3, Underwood 0-4, Elderton 0-2
Attendance: 2,113
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