Albany wallops turnover-plagued Black Bears

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ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany applied full-court pressure while forcing many of Maine’s 30 turnovers Sunday afternoon while cruising to a 78-46 America East women’s basketball victory at SEFCU Arena.

The Great Danes (4-11 overall, 2-0 AE) raced to a 20-2 lead in the first seven minutes of action while earning the program’s first win in 15 tries against the Black Bears dating back to their first meeting in 2001.

UMaine (4-11, 1-1 AE), which has been plagued by turnovers all season, struggled mightily against a quicker Albany squad that came out in attack mode.

“Give Albany credit for their pressure,” said UMaine coach Cindy Blodgett. “We’ve seen it before [this season] against Miami and Clemson. But today was a step backward and we handled it poorly.”

Freshman forward Tanna Ross of Newburgh was one of the few bright spots for the Black Bears. She connected for a team- and career-high 22 points, including 7-for-8 shooting from the free-throw line.

Sophomore center Sandra Vaitkute contributed six points and a game-high 11 rebounds for UMaine, which shot only 28 percent from the field. The Bears’ five starters combined for only eight points and 10 rebounds, but committed 15 turnovers.

UMaine did grab a 42-31 rebounding advantage.

Tanika Thrower sparked a group of five Albany double-figure scorers with 17 points, while Britney McGee tallied 15 points and handed out five assists. Charity Iromuanya posted 11 points, while Gia Sanders (eight rebounds, four blocked shots) and Kristin Higy added 10 points each.

The Great Danes, who won their third straight contest, came up with 17 steals.

Albany shot 46 percent from the floor, including 13-for-24 accuracy (.542) from 3-point range.

The hosts came out pressing and scored the first 11 points of the contest, including six from Thrower, during the first two minutes of play. Ross hit a jumper for UMaine, but Albany responded with nine more unanswered points to take control 20-2.

The Great Danes built their commanding lead to 45-18 by halftime.

UMaine returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday with a league game at Stony Brook (N.Y.), then the Bears return to Alfond Arena for a Saturday meeting with perennial league power Hartford at 7 p.m.

GREAT DANES 78, BLACK BEARS 46

Maine (4-11) Albany (4-11)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Boser 1 4 0 0 2 Sanders 5 14 10

Kilmurray 0 4 0 0 0 Higy 3 6 10

Younan 0 0 0 1 0 McGee 5 11 15

Rousseau 0 5 2 2 2 Thrower 6 9 17

Tewksbury 2 2 0 0 4 Iromunya 3 11

Baker 0 4 0 0 0 Ford 0 0 1

Ross 6 15 7 8 22 Lindsay 1 2 0 2

Johnson 0 1 2 2 2 Aiken 1 3 3

Bowen 0 1 2 2 2 Clements 0 0

Mosher 0 2 4 4 4 Mikus 1 1 3

Vaitkute 3 7 0 0 6 Sterling 1 5

Bratishko 1 1 0 0 2 Peterson 0 2

Totals 13 46 17 19 46 Totals 26 57 13 23 78

Maine 18 46

Albany 45 78

3-pt. goals – Maine (3-14): Kilmurray 0-1, Rousseau 0-3, Ross 3-9, Johnson 0-1; Albany (13-24): Higy 3-4, McGee 4-8, Thrower 3-4, Iromuanya 2-4, Aiken 1-3, Clements 0-1

Attendance: 263