Underwood leads Maine over Albany Bears in quarterfinal vs. Hawks

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WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The first one went in. So did the last one. As did four more 3-pointers in between. And thanks to hot shooting by Ashley Underwood, the University of Maine women’s basketball team is through to the America East quarterfinals.

Underwood poured in 24 points, hitting six 3-pointers along the way, as the No. 8 Black Bears earned a 73-56 victory over No. 9 Albany in a play-in game Thursday night at the University of Hartford’s Chase Arena at Reich Family Pavilion.

Three other UMaine players wound up in double figures as the Bears will take a 10-18 overall record into Friday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal against the No. 1 host Hawks.

“Our focus honestly was just getting by Albany – and knowing that this was a big hump for us to get over, getting the first win under our belts,” first-year Maine coach Ann McInerney said. “We’ll see if we can put together some type of game plan [for Hartford].”

The Bears lost both regular-season contests against the Hawks, including a 65-41 loss here on Feb. 25.

Thursday’s game was the program’s first-ever appearance in a conference tournament play-in game. Maine responded by putting four players in double figures, including Underwood, junior Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor (15 points), senior Abby Schrader (12), and junior Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa (10).

The Black Bears pulled away from the Great Danes in the second half thanks to stellar team shooting. It was the second straight game Underwood, a junior guard from Augusta, hit her career high of 24 and it came on an 8-for-13 floor effort, including a school record-tying six 3-pointers.

“I think it was big that I came out and hit my first shot. We were all hitting 3s. Bracey was knocking down 3s, Margaret [Elderton] hit 3s, and we just had a lot of confidence right from the start,” Underwood said. “I’m usually not that wide open, but I just took my time. There were a couple of wild ones there in the second half, but I just got my feet set and we were lucky to shoot well from the perimeter tonight.”

The Bears went 27-for-48 (53.8 percent) overall and 10-for-20 (50 percent) from 3-point range.

Albany also shot well in the first half, but couldn’t stop Maine in the second half, especially Underwood and Schrader.

Underwood hit a 3-pointer with 11:31 left to give Maine a 49-46 lead. After Albany pulled within one point later in the half, Schrader muscled inside for two baskets and a 54-50 lead.

The Great Danes kept up a bit at the free-throw line, but two more Underwood 3-pointers and another Schrader basket put Maine up 61-53.

Albany’s Jen Schumacher hit a 3-pointer of her own with 5:34 left – she led the Great Danes with 14 points – but Albany didn’t score again while Maine went on a 12-0 run to end the game.

Barker had a key stretch early in the second half when she blocked two straight Amanda Ward layup attempts, grabbed the rebound of the second, and streaked down the floor for a layup and a 39-38 lead.

“[Barker and Underwood] really put the team on their shoulders, made some big plays and really carried us offensively as well as defensively in the second half when we really needed to clamp down on their offense,” McInerney said.

“We did a lot better job rotating and getting the job done,” Barker said of a second half in which the Bears outscored the Danes 38-21.

Schrader, who dominated Albany in Maine’s two regular-season wins with an average of 15 points and 12 rebounds, went scoreless in the first half.

“They did a very good job on her in the first half,” McInerney said. “We did a better job of moving the ball and isolating her on the block in the second half. By the same token [the 3-pointers] kind of opened up the inside for her to be able to go to work.”

The 6-foot-3 center did lead the Bears with seven rebounds.

Maine and Albany combined to go 12 for 21 from behind the arc in the first half, but neither team could put a run together, which led to seven ties and eight lead changes. Albany gained some breathing room in the final 2:38 when Gia Sanders hit a 3-pointer, followed by a Schumacher 3-pointer with 1:26 left.

Underwood tied it with a perimeter shot from the left side with 45.6 remaining, but Albany’s Tanya James responded with a driving basket 19 seconds later.

Barker capped the half with a 3-pointer from the left corner 3.8 seconds before halftime, and the teams took a 35-35 tie in the locker room.

BLACK BEARS 73, GREAT DANES 56

Maine (10-18) Albany (7-21)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Underwod 8 13 2 2 24 Schumchr 5 14

Hustad-Va 5 5 0 0 10 Mikus 4 9 11

Elderton 2 3 2 2 7 Sanders 3 12 8

Barker 6 13 0 1 15 Ward 3 11 8

Schrader 5 10 2 2 12 Majors 2 2 4

Younan 0 0 3 4 3 Tanacan 1 4 6

Whittier 1 1 0 0 2 James 1 2 2

Bowen 0 1 0 0 0 Martinson 0 0

Kilmurrey 0 2 0 0 0 Sterling 1 3

Peterson 0 0 0

Totals 27 48 9 11 73 Totals 20 50 11 56

Visitor 35 56

Home 35 73

3-pt. goals – Maine (10-20): Underwood 6-10, Elderton 1-2, Barker 3-7, Bowen 0-1; Albany (7-17): Schumacher 4-6, Mikus 1-2, Sanders 2-5, Ward 0-4

Attendance: 703