ORONO — The University at Albany has enough quickness and balance to give its opponents plenty of problems. The University of Maine magnified that dynamic by turning the ball over frequently Wednesday night.
The Great Danes scored 24 points as a direct result of the Black Bears’ 18 turnovers, with 15 of those points coming in the second half, as Albany pulled away for a 65-50 America East women’s basketball victory at Alfond Arena.
A crowd of 100-plus fans braved the nasty winter storm — and were treated to free admission — but watched coach Cindy Blodgett’s team slip to 3-13 overall, 1-3 in conference play.
The Great Danes (10-6, 3-0 AE) used their transition attack to shoot 48 percent (12-for-25) from the floor in the second half while outscoring the hosts 36-21.
“It seemed not very clean for us on either end,” Blodgett said. “The first half we attacked their pressure well. We attacked it looking to score. The second half, I think we, for whatever reason, were more hesitant.”
It was a triumphant return for Albany head coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson, who had not been to Orono since leaving to take another coaching job after the 1993-94 season. She served as an assistant at UMaine under Joanne Palombo for two seasons.
Albany seized the momentum with a 10-0 spurt early in the second half, then played solid man-to-man defense that limited the Bears to 25 percent shooting (7-for-28) over the final 20 minutes.
UMaine struggled to establish any offensive continuity, although freshman post player Jaymie Druding scored eight of her career-high 10 points in the second half.
“The first half we were reaching and lunging and grabbing, and every time we did that they would capitalize on it,” Abrahamson-Henderson said. “I said we’ve got to stay in a (defensive) stance. We didn’t go in any more of our zone presses in the second half, we just tried to keep them in front of us.”
Elusive guard Ebone Henry spearheaded Albany with a game-best 17 points along with six rebounds, Cassandra Callaway tossed in 15 points, while Felicia Johnson added 10 points and five assists. The visitors turned the ball over only 10 times, leading to eight UMaine points.
Freshmen set the offensive tone for the Bears. Point guard Ashleigh Roberts contributed 11 points, six rebounds and three assists, while classmate Ali Nalivaika finished with nine points.
The Bears outrebounded the Great Danes 44-36, including 19 offensive boards that led to 15 second-chance points. However, UMaine could not stop Albany from establishing dribble penetration in the second half.
With the game tied at 33, Callaway opened the key run with a runner from the lane, then Johnson hit a 12-footer after a shot-clock violation by the Bears. Henry scored on a drive and lefthanded layup off another turnover.
“The first four minutes was what sort of did us in,” Blodgett said. “That immediately put us on our heels.”
Albany then scored back-to-back hoops off consecutive UMaine turnovers, another Johnson runner from the lane and Henry’s layup off a loose-ball rebound, to give the Great Danes a 43-33 lead with 14:49 to play.
“Our energy comes from our steals,” said Abrahamson-Henderson, who called the heady Johnson Albany’s leader and a warrior.
“Ebone Henry, she’s playing really well for us and we did a good job of getting her the ball because they had a post guarding her and she was just taking it to the hoop and finishing,” she added.
UMaine never got closer than seven points after that, when it cut the deficit to 49-42 on two Druding free throws with 8:30 left. Albany answered with seven straight points to end the suspense.
“When we play solid defensively, it puts less pressure on us at the offensive end,” Blodgett said. “Our defensive breakdowns really hurt us.”
UMaine junior forward Samantha Wheeler missed her 11th consecutive game as she continues to suffer from postconcussion symptoms.
The teams went into the locker room at halftime knotted at 29-29.
UMaine had occasional struggles with Albany’s 2-2-1 full-court pressure and committed eight first-half turnovers that led directly to nine points by the Great Danes.
Albany connected for four 3-pointers, three of them by Melia Basavand, and was able to score some baskets in transition to give them some confidence.
The Bears played some 1-2-2 matchup zone in the early going, but eventually opted to take on the visitors man-to-man. That tactic effectively limited penetration, although it didn’t stop the aggressive Great Danes from hitting several outside shots in a 12-for-37 (32 percent) performance.
UMaine shot 37 percent (10-for-27), but did a better job of getting high-percentage shots than its counterpart. The hosts also adjusted to the press as the half wore on and wound up negotiating it for some good transition baskets.
The Bears trailed 21-13 with 8:30 left in the half when they went on a 12-2 run to keep themselves in the contest. Tanna Ross opened the spurt with a 3-pointer, then freshman Druding scored from underneath off an Amber Smith feed.
Adrienne Jones countered for Albany with a pull-up jumper from the foul line in transition, but two Brittany Williams foul shots, Katelyn Vanderhoff’s foul-line jumper and a 3-pointer by Smith gave UMaine a 25-23 edge with 4:25 to play.