AMHERST, Massachusetts — The University of Massachusetts Minutemen used a strong inside game to beat the University of Maine Black Bears 68-60 in women’s basketball action Wednesday night at the Mullins Center.
Senior forward Kim Pierre-Louis sparked UMass with 19 points and seven rebounds, while junior forward Rashida Timbilla chipped in with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists. Sophomore center Kymber Hill added to the frontcourt attack with 10 points and eight rebounds.
The strong inside game led to high percentage shots for the Minutemen as they hit 57 percent of their shots from the floor (24 of 42) and drew fouls from the Black Bears. That resulted in a strong effort from the line where they hit 16 of 21 attempts (76 percent).
UMass outrebounded Maine 32-24.
The Minutemen and the Black Bears are both 1-2, while UMass avenged an 86-55 loss to the Black Bears last season.
The Black Bears have struggled offensively in the young season and did so again against UMass as they relied mainly on perimeter shooting and hit only 39 percent (23 of 59) of their field goals. The team didn’t receive many trips to the free throw line where it hit just three of seven attempts.
Junior forward Mikaela Gustafsson and sophomore guard Sigi Koizar each scored 12 points to lead the Black Bears, with Koizar netting eight in the first half. She also had two rebounds and two assists.
UMaine junior forward Liz Wood was hurt by foul trouble and finished with eight points, two rebounds and three assists.
The Minutemen took a 32-25 halftime lead and started the second half by outscoring the Black Bears 11-5 to take a 43-30 advantage four minutes in.
UMass upped its lead to 58-42 with 5:38 left, and the Black Bears attempted a late rally when Koizar hit two free throws and Chantel Charles hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 58-47 with 5:01 left.
The Minutemen kept working the ball inside, however, and that helped them up their lead back up to 65-51 with three minutes left to secure the victory.
The Black Bears battled to a four-point lead in the game’s opening minutes when a Gustafsson jumper gave them a 13-9 advantage with 14:18 left in the half.
UMass then held UMaine scoreless over the next six minutes, rattling off a 12-0 surge to take a 21-13 lead with 9:07 left.
Sophie Weckstrom finally snapped the UMaine scoring drought when she hit a 3-pointer 15 seconds later.
The Black Bears did manage to cut the UMass lead down to four late in the first half, highlighted by 3-pointers by Gustafsson and Koizar.
Alyx Stiff responded for the Minutemen by also hitting a 3-pointer as UMass took a 32-25 halftime lead.
Weckstrom scored six first-half points on two 3-pointers.
Stiff paced UMass with seven points and Pierre-Louis added six.
UMass outrebounded UMaine in the first half 16-10.
The Black Bears return home for a 1 p.m. Sunday contest against Sacred Heart at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
UNE 77, USM 73 (OT)
At Gorham, junior Meghan Gribbin converted the game-tying shot and junior Allana Vose hit a pivotal 3-pointer in overtime as the University of New England Nor’easters beat the University of Southern Maine Huskies.
Both teams are now 2-1.
Down 60-50, with less than eight minutes in regulation, Southern Maine rallied with a 14-3 run over a five minutes span to take a slim 64-63 lead with 2:49 to play. Five different players scored for USM in the rally capped by a traditional three-point play from senior Taylor Flood.
After Flood’s hoop and free throw, both teams traded the lead in the final two minutes. Southern Maine led 69-67 with 11 seconds to play after one of two free throws from senior Stephanie Gallagher before Gribbin sped her way to a jumper in the paint.
In the overtime period, Southern Maine held the narrowest of leads 73-72 with 1:56 to play on a pair of free throws from junior Megan Pelletier, before Vose gave her team the lead for good with a 3-pointer for a 75-73 lead.
Junior guard Sadie DiPierro was 6-for-9 from three-point territory for 22 points to lead UNE. Sophomore Alicia Brown added 15 points and five rebounds, while senior Kelly Coleman tossed in 14 points. Gribbin finished the game with nine points and a game-high eight assists, while Vose had seven points, five rebounds and four assists.
Pelletier led Southern Maine with 22 points on 9-for-12 shooting as four Huskies scored in double figures.She added eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Senior guard Lauren Rousseau had 15 points and six assists and classmate Rebecca Knight had a double-double with 12 points, a career-high 14 rebounds and four assists. Junior Ella Ramonas added 10 points and seven boards.
Bowdoin 68, Endicott 48
At Beverly, Mass., Bowdoin dominated the second half for a non-conference.
The Polar Bears broke open a tie game at halftime and outscored the Gulls 41-21 in the second period to improve to 2-1. Endicott falls to 1-2.
Lauren Petit provided a spark off the bench for Bowdoin, scoring 11 of her game-high 16 points in the second half for the Polar Bears on 4 of 8 from 3-point range. Sara Binkhorst had 15 points and 10 rebounds while Shannon Brady scored 13 for Bowdoin. Kayleen Whail led Endicott with 15 points and eight rebounds.
SMCC 93, Unity 51
At South Portland, Amira Jones scored 19 points and Jaimi Poland added 14 to lead Southern Maine Community College by Unity.
Men’s Basketball
UMPI 86, MMA 67
At Castine, the UMaine-Presque Isle Owls surged to a 44-17 halftime lead en route to the victory over the Maine Maritime Academy Mariners.
Chase Vicaire scored 21 points to help the Owls improve to 3-0 while Maurice Harris chipped in with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Brandon McGill and Trevor Lovely each added nine points, with McGill grabbing nine rebounds and Lovely notching three assists. Nick Lenhard also contributed with seven points, five assists and six steals.
Tyler Thayer sparked the Mariners (1-2) with 22 points and Nick Holt added 13. Kyle Boucher had 10 rebounds.
UMPI had a slight 44-42 rebounding edge.