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WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Tiffany Benson made the first of two free throws with 4.6 seconds remaining Thursday night, lifting William & Mary to a 63-62 women’s basketball victory over the University of Maine at Kaplan Arena.
Kris Younan’s long shot from inside half-court fell short at the buzzer as the Black Bears (1-5) suffered their fourth consecutive loss.
The Tribe (3-3), which snapped a three-game skid, trailed by as many as eight points in the second half. However, the hosts overcame the deficit by causing turnovers and winning the rebounding battle.
“There was definitely some progress,” said UMaine coach Cindy Blodgett. “We got better doing a few different things than we wanted to. We got everything but the win.”
Sophomore guard Amanda Tewksbury had tied the contest at 61-all by hitting a baseline jumper with 30 seconds left. William & Mary took a timeout and held for the last shot.
Kristin Baker of Bingham wound up fouling Benson, who wound up going 4-for-15 from the foul line.
“We didn’t want to foul. We wanted to get a stop was what we wanted to do,” Blodgett said. “[Benson] banks one in from the free-throw line.”
Tewksbury, who is rounding into shape after dealing with a shoulder injury, scored a career-best 15 points to pace UMaine.
“She was fighting through some injuries, but she’s feeling much better,” Blodgett said. “It’s certainly nice having her back. She had some nice shots and hit back-to-back baseline jumpers to tie it or keep it within one [point] late in the game.”
Sophomore forward Brittany Boser contributed 14 points and four rebounds, while freshman Emily Rousseau added nine points but committed nine turnovers.
Kris Younan added five points, five rebounds and three assists and five steals with five of UMaine’s 24 turnovers. The Bears managed only nine assists in the game.
Devin James led William & Mary with a game-high 16 points, five rebounds and eight steals. Benson finished with 12 points, despite 4-for-15 shooting from the foul line, and grabbed nine rebounds. Kyra Kaylor contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds for The Tribe, which racked up 17 steals.
William & Mary also outrebounded UMaine 37-30, including 16 offensive boards.
“They got 16 offensive boards. They always seemed to come at really crucial times,” Blodgett said. “They got two or three off free throw attempts and that led to four or five points.”
The Bears led 32-31 at halftime and extended the lead to eight points with an 8-1 scoring run that featured two baskets by Boser.
UMaine still led by eight (48-40) with 11:19 remaining, but William & Mary needed only two minutes, 23 seconds to get even. James got the hosts rolling with a 3-pointer, then the Bears committed three turnovers over their next four possessions.
Dani Kell’s 3-pointer at the 10:03 mark and a Kaylor layup made it 48-48 with 8:56 to play.
“We had 12 [turnovers] in the first half, 12 in the second half,” Blodgett said. “They played pretty good defense, but so many of them are our [unforced] turnovers.”
The Bears, who shot 49 percent from the field, eventually regained the lead and went up 55-52, but couldn’t hold it.
The game featured 11 lead changes and five ties.
“We did some better things defensively. They only scored 63 points,” Blodgett said. “We did some different things within our matchup [zone] that I was pleased with.”
UMaine returns to action Sunday in a 2 p.m. nonconference game at Fairfield University.
THE TRIBE 63, BLACK BEARS 62
Maine (1-5) William & Mary (3-3)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Younan 1 6 2 2 5 Portell 3 8 9
Baker 3 4 0 0 6 Kell 1 4 5
Boser 6 12 2 2 14 James 6 16 16
Rousseau 3 5 0 0 9 Benson 4 7 15 12
Kilmurray 2 4 0 1 4 Kayler 3 11 12
Ross 0 1 1 2 1 Barton 1 3 0 3
Tewksbury 7 12 0 0 15 Moller 0 0 0
Vaitkute 2 5 0 0 4 Oblinger 0 2
Bratishko 2 4 0 0 4 Aadland 2 4 4
Totals 26 53 5 7 62 Totals 20 53 16 27 63
Maine 32 62
William & Mary 31 63
3-pt. goals – Maine (5-13): Younan 1-3, Baker 0-1, Rousseau 3-5, Kilmurray 0-1, Ross 0-1, Tewksbury 1-2; W&M: Portell 3-7, Kell 1-3, James 2-4, Kayler 0-2, Barton 1-3
Attendance: 210
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