Retrievers’ run in second half buries UMaine

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BALTIMORE – The University of Maryland Baltimore County made four consecutive 3-pointers during a 16-0 second-half scoring surge Wednesday night while rallying for a 60-47 America East women’s basketball victory over the University of Maine.

It was the Retrievers’ first win over the Black Bears in six tries since UMBC joined America East in 2003-04.

Coach Ann McInerney’s Black Bears slipped to 8-16, 4-9 in conference play, as their road woes continued. UMaine remains in seventh place, a half-game ahead of Vermont (4-10) in the league standings.

UMaine built a 13-point lead in the second half, only to have the bottom fall out during the last 141/2 minutes.

“Unfortunately we went dry a little bit and then UMBC came firing back at us,” McInerney told WZON radio. “They’re a good team. They started hitting some shots.”

Ashley Underwood of Benton led the way for the Bears with a game-high 22 points on 9-for-14 shooting. Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor contributed 11 points and eight rebounds and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa added eight points.

Sharri Rohde paced UMBC (15-9, 7-6 AE) with 15 points and Matea Pender provided 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Bears appeared to be in charge early in the second half. Underwood hit two jumpers to spark an 8-0 run that gave UMaine a 30-17 advantage with 14:32 remaining.

UMBC, which shot 20 percent from the floor in the first half, including 1-for-14 from 3-point range, began to regain its confidence down the stretch.

After a Barker 3-pointer gave UMaine a 39-31 lead with 8:19 left, a 3-pointer by Rohde at the 7:14 mark ignited the Retrievers’ pivotal surge. Pender sandwiched a 3-pointer and a layup around a pair of 3-pointers by Brittnie Hughes as UMBC turned the eight-point deficit into a 45-39 lead with 3:33 remaining.

“I think it’s a situation where it just got out of hand,” McInerney said. “That’s unacceptable.”

By the time Underwood made two free throws at the 2:08 mark to end UMaine’s six-minute scoring drought, the Bears trailed by six and couldn’t close the gap further.

UMBC didn’t attempt a free throw in the first half, but went 12-for-14 from the line in the second half.

“Our kids played hard, I think they went hard to the basket,” McInerney said of the Bears, who went 6-for-8 from the foul line. “It’s a game that you know when you’re playing on the road, you’re not going to get the [calls].”

UMaine committed 18 turnovers.

RETRIEVERS 60, BLACK BEARS 47

Maine (8-16) UMBC (15-9)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Younan 0 1 0 0 0 Hughes 3 10 9

Underwod 9 14 2 2 22 Rohde 4 8 15

Hugstd-Va 3 6 2 2 8 Drabyn 1 3 3

Elderton 0 4 0 0 0 Butler 1 4 4

Bowen 0 2 0 0 0 Pender 5 10 12

Kilmurray 0 0 1 2 1 Robinson 4 8

Barker 5 15 0 0 11 Luttrell 2 6

Schrader 2 7 1 2 5 Book 0 1 0

Hatten 0 1 0 0

Voss 1 1 1 3

Totals 19 49 6 8 47 Totals 21 54 12 14 60

Maine 19 47

UMBC 13 60

3-pt. goals – Maine (3-15): Younan 0-1, Underwood 2-5, Elderton 0-3, Barker 1-6; UMBC (6-22): Hughes 3-5, Rohde 1-2, Drabyn 1-3, Pender 1-6, Luttrell 0-4, Book 0-1, Hatten 0-1

Men’s basketball

UMFK 84, Col. of St. Joseph 80

At Fort Kent, Rytis Kriunas scored 21 points to help lead No. 4 University of Maine at Fort Kent past No. 5 College of Saint Joseph in the Sunrise Conference quarterfinal.

Edmundas Akstinas scored 18 points for the Bengals, and Billy Russo had 12 points, 13 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Darius Parker had 10 points and four steals, and Hamill Bassue added 10 points.

Rich Ortega led the Fighting Saints with 18 points. Ian Nimblett added 17 points and 16 rebounds, and Ryan Kimball scored 16 points.

College of Saint Joseph (5-23) 80

Pittman 3-1-8, Nimblett 8-1-17, Henry 2-0-5, Ortega 4-9-18, Epps 4-0-8, Kimball 6-1-16, Loomis 2-0-6, Madgwick 1-0-2, Hughes, Brown, Valdez, Parada

UM-Fort Kent (13-14) 84

Bassue 3-4-10, Kriunas 6-8-21, Akstinas 7-3-18, Russo 2-8-12, Parker 2-5-10, Allen 2-2-8, Bard 1-2-5, Myers

3-pt. goals: Kimball 3, Loomis 2, Pittman, Henry, Ortega; Allen 2, Kriunas, Akstinas, Parker, Bard

Halftime: UM-Fort Kent 48-33