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Women's Basketball Drops Tough Decision to New Hampshire
March 5, 2008
ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine women's basketball team dropped a tough 66-58 decision to border-rival New Hampshire on Wednesday night at Alfond Arena in Orono. The Black Bears concluded their regular season with a 7-22 overall record and a 4-12 mark in America East, while UNH ran its record to 7-20 and 4-11 in the league. The Black Bears were led in scoring by Sandra Vaitkute's career-high 17 points. In addition to her point total, Vaitkut pulled down six rebounds and blocked a game-high two shots. A pair of Black Bears logged double-doubles, including Kristin Baker with a career-high tying 12 points and a career-best 10 rebounds. Baker also handed out five assists while swiping a team-high three steals. Amanda Tewksbury was Maine's other double-double performer as he notched 11 points and 10 boards. It marked her third double-double this season. Jacinda Williams paced New Hampshire with 14 points, while Candace Williams tossed in 13. Amy Simpson and Racheal Fowler were the Wildcats' other double-digit scorers at 12 and 10 points, respectively. For their efforts, Tewksbury and Williams were named the America East Players of the Game. The Black Bears held a 52-48 lead with seven minutes remaining in the contest on a jumper by Tewksbury. However, UNH fought back to knot the score at 52 a minute later on a pair of free throws and a jumper by Candace Williams. Baker answered at the other end of the court with a driving layup to put the Black Bears back up at 54-52 with 5:10 to go.
UNH didn't fold and scored nine-straight points to open up a 61-54 advantage with just 2:14 remaining. The run was sparked by four points from Jacinda Williams and three from Denise Beliveau. The Wildcats would not trail the rest of the way in earning the win.
Maine shot 41 percent (18-of-44) from the floor, while UNH managed to convert on just 38 percent (23-of-60) of its shots. The Black Bears out-rebounded the Wildcats by a 37-33 margin, as Maine out-rebounded its conference foes in all but three league games this season. Two of those contests where Maine didn't out-rebound the opponent, the Black Bears ended up pulling down the same number of boards. However, UNH capitalized by scoring 25 points of Maine turnovers, while also holding a 16-6 advantage in second chance points. The Wildcats raced out to a 10-3 lead four minutes into the contest, but Maine responded and pulled within two at 10-8 on a Baker three pointer. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes as UNH held a 20-15 at the 10:06 mark of the first half. Maine rallied and scored the game's ensuing 16 points, and eventually built a 31-23 lead heading into the locker room at halftime. Vaitkute and Tewksbury each netted a team-best seven points for Maine in the opening 20 minutes. The game marked Senior Night, as guard Kris Younan was honored prior to the game for her four years of commitment to the Black Bear program. Younan finished with eight points and a game-high six assists while playing nearly all 40 minutes. She left the game with 18 seconds remaining to a standing ovation from the crowd of nearly 1,500. Maine earned the eighth seed for next week's America East Tournament and will face Stony Brook on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Both teams split their two-game regular season series this year with both winning on their respective home floors. For more information on the 2008 America East Tournament, please visit the women's basketball page at www.AmericaEast.com(.) |
