NEW BRITAIN, Connecticut — The Maine Black Bears rattled off 16 unanswered points at the start of the second half and went on to beat the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils 72-58 for their third straight victory in women’s basketball action Wednesday night at Detrick Gymnasium.
The Blue Devils took a 36-24 halftime lead over the cold shooting Bears, but Maine responded in the second half with nine 3-point field groals and a 25-3 scoring surge that gave them a 49-39 lead with 12:11 left in the game.
“We are an offensive team by nature. When their shots start falling, their defense steps up,” Maine coach Richard Barron told Don Shields of the Black Bear Network after the game.
“That’s one of the best 20 minutes of basketball since I’ve been here,” added Barron, who is in his fourth year at Maine.
Junior forward Liz Wood sparked the Black Bears (4-3) with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Sophomore guard Sigi Koizar also chipped in with another strong performance as she finished with 21 points, four steals, four rebounds and two assists.
Junior guard Sophie Weckstrom paced Maine’s 3-point shooting attack as she finished with 15 points on a 5-for-7 effort from beyond the arc. Maine hit 12 of 22 3-pointers (54.5 percent) and finished with a 27-for-46 performance (58.7 percent) from the field.
Freshman guard Camden Musgrave came off the bench to lead the Blue Devils (4-3) with 15 points while junior forward Nicole Ferguson, also a sub, chipped in with 11 points.
The Black Bears outrebounded the Blue Devils 26-22 and committed only three second-half turnovers after making 11 in the first half.
Koizar and Weckstrom sparked Maine’s 16-0 run to start the second half with Koizar sinking eight points, including two 3-pointers, and Weckstrom adding six points on two 3-pointers.
Musgrave ended the Maine surge when she nailed a 3-pointer with 14:28 left, but the Bears responded by scoring nine more unanswered points for the 49-39 advantage.
Wood started the surge with a 3-pointer and then Koizar sent a pretty bounce pass to Anna Heise for a layup. Koizar then scored off layups on Maine’s next two trips down the floor.
Aleah Epps answered for the Blue Devils with a jumper and Musgrave hit a 3-pointer to cut Maine’s lead to 49-44 with 8:53 left.
Wood then took over for the Black Bears as scored seven of Maine’s points in a 10-2 surge over the next two minutes that gave them a 13-point lead and secured the victory. The Black Bears took their largest lead of the contest at the 2:09 point when Weckstrom’s fifth 3-pointer extended the lead to 18.
The Blue Devils held the Bears to a 9-for-20 effort (45 percent) from the floor in the first half while building their lead to 17 when Lauren Woloski hit a layup with 1:35 left in the half.
A 3-pointer by Koizar and two Courtney Anderson free throws helped the Black Bears cut the lead down to 12 at halftime.
Maine returns to action at 2 p.m. Sunday when it hosts Harvard at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Colby 65, St. Joseph’s 53
At Standish, Carylanne Wolfington recorded 21 points, five rebounds and two steals to carry Colby by St. Joseph’s.
Mia Diplock chipped in with 13 points and six steals for the Mules (7-0), who surged to a 38-23 halftime lead.
Kate Parsons added 12 points for Colby.
Morgan Cahill paced St. Joseph’s (5-2) with 22 points and Sarah Assante added 11 points, six assists and four rebounds.
UNE 70, E. Nazarene 60
At Biddeford, the University of New England pened the second half with an 11-0 run on its way to the victory over Eastern Nazarene College in a Commonwealth Coast Conference mutual opener.
The Nor’easters (4-1, 1-0 CCC), ranked 20th in the most recent D3Hoops.com national poll, earned their 13th consecutive win over the Lions (0-6, 0-1).
Junior Alanna Vose scored 13 of her team-high 17 points after halftime to pace the Nor’easters. She was 5-for-9 from the floor (3 of 6 from beyond the arc) and 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Senior Kelly Coleman contributed 15 points — 11 in the second half — to go with seven rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Alicia Brown scored 11 points on a 5-for-6 effort from the floor, and junior Meghan Gribbin chipped in 10 points.
Junior Mhiah Vickers poured in a game-high 27 points to lead the Lions. She added seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Bowdoin 65, USM 44
At Brunswick, Bowdoin rode a hot-shooting first half to the victory over the University of Southern Maine at Morrell Gymnasium.
The 21-point margin of victory is the largest ever for the Polar Bears (5-2) in their 40-year history against the Huskies (3-3).
Sara Binkhorst had a game-high 19 points to go with five rebounds and four assists for Bowdoin. Shannon Brady added 16 points, seven boards and four blocks while Marle Curle pitched in 15 points.
Megan Pelletier had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead Southern Maine. Rebecca Knight also saw double figures with 10 points for the Huskies.
Bowdoin hit nine of its first 10 shots from the field and connected on 64 percent for the opening period, blowing open a tight game and quickly building a double-digit lead. Meanwhile, the Polar Bear defense held the Huskies to just one field goal over the final 6:40 of the first half and held a 43-23 edge at intermission.
USM scored the first five points of the second half, looking to get back into the contest. But Bowdoin replied with a 12-2 run to increase its lead to 55-30 following a Binkhorst hoop and free throw with 13:19 to go. The Polar Bears would lead by as many as 26 points in the second half en route to the win.
Bates 80, UM-Augusta 66
At Lewiston, Bates erased a five-point halftime deficit with a 19-2 run to begin in the second half, defeating UMaine-Augusta in a non-conference game at Alumni Gymnasium.
The visiting Moose (6-4) gave the Bobcats (6-3) all they could handle for much of the game. UMA center Jamie Plummer led the Moose with 25 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Kylie Kemp added 14 points, making 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the foul line, and adding three steals. Carmen Bragg contributed 12 points, six rebounds and five assists.
Bates’ Allie Coppola scored 22 points, her first collegiate 20-point effort, and hauled down a game-high 15 rebounds, seven off the offensive glass, to go with four assists and three steals. Bates totaled 23 assists, with four starters collecting four or more apiece. The Bobcats shot 46.5 percent from the field, including 45.5 percent (10-22) from beyond the arc.
Molly Brown added 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Bernadette Connors contributed 18 points, six rebounds and five assists. Chelsea Nason had 14 points, seven rebounds and a game-high four steals, and Kristin Calvo distributed a game-high six assists.