Wildcats, Terriers take bites out of Bears UNH torches UMaine, halts 11-game losing skid

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DURHAM, N.H. – There’s a way to describe the way the University of New Hampshire women’s basketball team played Wednesday night.

They were “feeling it.”

The Wildcats torched the University of Maine for nine 3-pointers while cruising to a substantial first-half lead on their way to a 70-55 America East women’s basketball victory at Lundholm Gymnasium.

“We just got beat by a team that wanted to win more than us,” said UMaine coach Cindy Blodgett, whose Black Bears slipped to 5-15, 2-5 in conference play, with their second straight loss.

New Hampshire (4-14, 1-5 AE) seemed due to break out of its funk. The performance brought to an end the Wildcats’ 11-game losing streak.

“Totally, we could definitely feel it,” senior Ashley Cerniglia said of New Hampshire’s continued improvement. “Our day finally came.”

The Bears must now regroup for Saturday’s noon America East contest against Binghamton at Alfond Arena in Orono.

Junior forward Colleen Kilmurray paced UMaine with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Tanna Ross of Newburgh contributed 13 points and Brittany Boser nine points and five rebounds.

However, UMaine shot a season-low 25 percent (14-for-57) from the floor, with Ross, Emily Rousseau of Biddeford and Kris Younan combining to shoot only 4-for-33 (12 percent).

“We just didn’t come out as strong as we’d like in the first half,” Kilmurray said. “In the second half, we were kind of a different team, the team we hope to see all the time.”

UMaine made repeated trips to the foul line and wound up going 27-for-37, outscoring the Wildcats by 17 points.

UNH was paced by Ashley Simpson’s 21 points, which included five 3-pointers, along with 19 points (five 3s) from Cerniglia and 10 from Jacinda Williams. The ‘Cats made 12 3-pointers, while UMaine went 0-for-11.

The Bears committed a season-low 13 turnovers, which led directly to 17 UNH points.

UNH wasted no time setting the offensive tone while building a commanding 44-21 halftime advantage.

The Wildcats went 7-for-11 from long range in the game’s first 11:05, while Cerniglia and Simpson each buried four 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes.

“You let any good shooters get comfortable and, if they hit their first couple, all of a sudden that hoop looks a whole lot bigger,” Blodgett said. “We played well the second half, but they knocked us out the first 20 minutes and that was the game.”

The first five 3-pointers came against UMaine’s 1-2-2 matchup zone, which wasn’t able to extend to cover the open shooter after the ball was reversed from one side of the court to the other.

“It was a nice change,” Cerniglia said of playing against the zone and hitting momentum-building 3-pointers, “especially when we come out in the first four minutes and totally set the pace of the game. It’s definitely a confidence-booster.”

Already trailing 17-7, the Bears switched to man-to-man defense at the 11:45 mark, but UNH wound up extending its lead while working off screens. The Wildcats shot 50 percent in the half.

“We just did a really poor job defensively and that’s a lack of focus for us,” Blodgett said.

UMaine committed nine turnovers in the half, resulting in 12 UNH points. The Bears also shot a lackluster 7-for-14 from the foul line.

The Bears turned up their defensive intensity and continued attacking the inside and the baseline in the second half.

UMaine trailed by 25 with 15:09 left, but UMaine eventually closed within 12 points at 67-55 with 52.5 seconds left. The Wildcats iced it from the foul line.

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

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WILDCATS 70, BLACK BEARS 55

Maine (5-15) UNH (4-14)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Younan 0 7 2 2 2 Beliveau 0 0

Ross 3 13 7 8 13 Cerniglia 6 20 19

Rousseau 1 13 0 0 2 Flowers 2 6 4

Tewksbury 3 8 2 2 8 C. Willms 3 9

Kilmurray 4 8 8 14 16 Simpson 7 15 21

Baker 0 1 1 2 1 J. Willms 3 10

Boser 2 6 5 5 9 McDade 1 1 3

Mosher 1 1 2 4 4 Fowler 2 2 4

Vaitkute 0 0 0 0 0 McDonld 0 0 0

Totals 14 57 27 37 55 Totals 24 61 10 18 70

Maine 21 55

New Hampshire 44 70

3-pt. goals – Maine (0-11): Younan 0-1, Kilmurray 0-1, Rousseau 0-2, Tewksbury 0-2, Ross 0-5; New Hampshire (12-34): Simpson 5-11, Cerniglia 5-16, McDade 1-1, J. Williams 1-3, Beliveau 0-3

Attendance: 822