Head Style: head42 – 42 Point, 2 deck, Minion-SemiboldBDN95, Plain; 87; 2 col

Head Style: drop21 – 21 Point, 1 deck, Minion-RegularBDN95, Plain; 25; 2 col

Body Spec: Body Text; colw: 11p0; depth:17.13 (in.)

“Twenty-six turnovers absolutely drives me crazy.”

MAINE COACH CINDY BLODGETT

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Maine women’s basketball team continues to be its own worst enemy.

Saturday afternoon, the Black Bears committed 26 turnovers, which led to 27 Massachusetts points, helping the Minutewomen post a 74-55 victory at the Mullins Center.

Coach Cindy Blodgett’s squad, which lost for the sixth straight game, again showed flashes of promise. However, the Bears (1-7) were unable to overcome turnovers and key defensive lapses.

“Twenty-six turnovers absolutely drives me crazy,” said Blodgett, whose team is averaging 23.6 per contest.

“It’s painful to watch, and I’m sure it’s painful to play, but I don’t think it’s an unreasonable expectation from me to think that we can take care of the ball better,” she said.

Five different players committed at least four turnovers for UMaine, which made six in the first four minutes. Even so, the Bears battled and trailed only 27-26 with 3:35 left in the first half.

However, Massachusetts (4-5) scored nine unanswered points during the final 2:50 to grab a 36-26 halftime lead and seize the momentum.

“We need to stop having lapses in the middle of the game,” said UMaine sophomore co-captain Brittany Boser, a native of nearby Palmer, Mass. “We can’t take three minutes off, because that’s the game right there. We need to come out and play hard every single possession, offense and defense.”

Aided by four UMaine turnovers in the first 4:13, the Minutewomen opened the second half with a 7-2 surge that made it 43-28. They then put together two more runs while extending the advantage to 24 points (62-38) with 8:27 left.

“I think it’s a lack of focus. I think it’s a lack of seeing each possession as precious,” said Blodgett, who credited UMass with playing strong defense. “We continue to not put ourselves in a position to be successful.”

UMass attacked UMaine’s 1-2-2 matchup zone and man-to-man defenses behind seniors Pam Rosanio (19 points) and Kate Mills (16). The duo worked high-low and give-and-go plays en route to combined 16-for-25 shooting and 10 assists.

Defensively, the Minutewomen effectively bottled up Bears leading scorer Boser (11.6 ppg), who finished with four points and six rebounds. Soph center Sandra Vaitkute, who stands 6-foot-6, picked up some of the slack inside with career highs in points (12) and rebounds (8).

Bench players accounted for 45 of UMaine’s 55 total points. Freshman Tanna Ross of Newburgh connected on six of eight 3-pointers on her way to a game- and career-high 20 points with five rebounds.

Frosh Emily Rousseau of Biddeford came off the bench to provide some stability and offensive punch at point guard. She finished with 13 points.

The Bears outrebounded the Minutewomen 34-29, but UMass shot 53 percent from the field and committed only 15 turnovers.

Despite spotting UMass an 8-2 lead, UMaine later took the lead briefly. Rousseau opened a 9-2 spurt with an eight-footer off the glass, then Colleen Kilmurray knocked down a 16-footer.

Mills scored from underneath for the hosts, but Ross buried a 3-pointer in transition off a Kris Younan feed and Boser’s pass set up Kilmurray on a cutting move through the lane that put the Bears in front 18-17 with 8:53 to play.

Shortly thereafter, UMass regained the upper hand thanks to two 3-pointers by Kim Benton (13 points, 4 steals). She then jumpstarted the half-closing 9-0 run with another bomb and the hosts never looked back.

MINUTEWOMEN 74, BLACK BEARS 55

Maine (1-7) Massachusetts (4-5)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Boser 2 5 0 0 4 Tatham 2 3 4

Kilmurray 2 5 2 2 6 Mills 8 14 16

Younan 0 2 0 0 0 Rosanio 8 11 19

Baker 0 4 0 0 0 Benton 4 7 13

Tewksbury 0 3 0 0 0 Gerardot 1 6

Ross 7 13 0 0 20 Young 0 0 2 2

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 Mosgrove 2 5

Rousseau 6 12 0 1 13 Lawrence 0 3

Vaitkute 5 11 2 2 12 Wright 2 3 3

Bratishko 0 0 0 0 0 McDonald 0 2

Totals 22 55 4 5 55 Totals 27 51 15 23 74

Maine 26 55

Massachusetts 36 74

3-pt. goals – Maine (7-18): Kilmurray 0-2, Baker 0-2, Tewksbury 0-1, Ross 6-8, Rousseau 1-5; UMass (5-13): Benton 3-6, Gerardot 1-3, Mosgrove 1-3, Lawrence 0-1

Attendance: 792