Defensive intensity helps carry Black Bears by Binghamton UMaine features offensive balance in sixth win

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ORONO – First-year coach Cindy Blodgett is never sure exactly how her young team will perform in any given game.

She liked what she saw out of her University of Maine women’s basketball team Saturday afternoon.

The Black Bears pulled ahead with a decisive first-half scoring run, then maintained their defensive intensity in the second half while posting a 63-50 America East victory over Binghamton at Alfond Arena.

“We’re so Jekyll-and-Hyde. I much prefer to coach this team,” Blodgett said, comparing the performance to Wednesday’s subpar effort at New Hampshire.

“The real positive is, they have it in them and when they come out as a group and they play together like they did today, this is the result,” Blodgett said.

UMaine (6-15, 3-5 AE) gave away two or three inches across the board, but the tenacious frontcourt play of Brittany Boser, Colleen Kilmurray and Christina Mosher was the difference against a more experienced Binghamton squad.

Boser was among three Bears to score 15 points. She went 7-for-7 from the foul line and pulled down seven rebounds. Kilmurray got into early foul trouble, but scored UMaine’s first six points of the second half on her way to nine total.

“We really came out with a lot of intensity, defensive intensity especially,” Boser said.

The hosts outscored Binghamton (6-14, 4-3 AE) 24-18 in the paint thanks in part to a tough, physical style. The Bears also outrebounded the Bearcats 40-37, led by senior guard Kris Younan’s eight boards.

“[Binghamton’s] scoring primarily comes from inside and we actually outscored them in the paint, which is really a credit to us going in and being willing to go against their bigs,” Blodgett said.

Amanda Tewksbury tallied 10 of her 15 points in the first half and grabbed seven rebounds for UMaine, while freshman guard Emily Rousseau of Biddeford scored 13 of her 15 points in the first half.

UMaine took a little better care of the ball for the second straight contest. The Bears finished with 17 turnovers, 5.5 below their average.

Freshman Tanna Ross of Newburgh, who has been hampered by a sore knee, scored two points in only 18 minutes.

Rousseau was the offensive catalyst as UMaine put together a crucial 15-0 scoring run, its longest of the season, during a six-minute stretch of the first half.

With the Bears on top 18-17, Rousseau hit an 12-foot pull-up jumper and a baseline runner 33 seconds apart to initiate the surge. Boser converted a three-point play with a low-post basket and foul shot, then Rousseau drained a 3-pointer to make it 28-17 with 5:21 left.

“Being aggressive was really important,” Boser said. “Emily, especially, did a really good job for us, coming off the bench and taking it to the hole.”

UMaine continued in attack mode, scoring its next five points from the foul line to extend the advantage to 33-17 with 2:38 to play in the half.

The Bears held the Bearcats scoreless for six minutes by applying 2-2-1 full-court pressure and playing man-to-man or a 1-2-2 matchup zone in the half-court. Binghamton shot only 30.5 percent from the floor in the contest.

“I thought our press really gave us some good energy, too,” Blodgett said. “I wanted them to press on makes to try to get us in more of an aggressive mode.”

Two Laine Kurpniece free throws ended Binghamton’s scoring drought with 2:27 left, but the visitors trailed by 14 at halftime and never got closer than seven in the second half.

UMaine actually pushed its lead to 18 points (40-22) as Kilmurray scored two close-range buckets in the first minute of the second half.

While Binghamton’s man-to-man, full-court pressure clearly took the Bears out of their offensive rhythm in the second half, the Bearcats were unable to generate enough momentum to overcome the big deficit.

The visitors manufactured a 9-0 run during one stretch to make it 44-37, but Kilmurray’s three-point play helped UMaine settle down.

Erica Carter led Binghamton with 11 points and six assists, while Kurpniece posted 10 points.

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

990-8240

BLACK BEARS 63, BEARCATS 50

Binghamton (6-14) Maine (6-15)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Sario 1 7 3 4 5 Boser 4 9 15

Franceski 2 7 0 0 4 Tewksbry 4 15

Kurpniece 3 6 4 4 10 Kilmurray 4 9

Carter 3 11 2 3 11 Younan 1 5 4

Sadler 1 1 0 0 3 Ross 1 6 2

Peterson 4 7 0 0 8 Baker 0 0 0

Jahilo 0 6 1 3 1 Rousseau 5 12 3 4 15

Ward 0 1 0 0 0 Mosher 0 1 0 0

Thompson 4 12 0 0 8 Vaitkute 0 3

Owens 0 1 0 0 0

Totals 18 59 10 14 50 Totals 19 50 22 25 63

Binghamton 22 50

Maine 36 63

3-pt. goals – Binghamton (4-13): Sario 0-3, Carter 3-8, Sadler 1-1, Thompson 0-1; Maine (3-9): Tewksbury 1-1, Kilmurray 0-2, Ross 0-3, Rousseau 2-3

Attendance: 1,941 (tickets issued)