Christiana Gerostergiou provided the University of Maine women’s basketball team with a bit of an early Christmas present on Sunday afternoon.
The freshman guard hit a 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds remaining, lifting the Black Bears to a 54-51 victory over William & Mary at Williamsburg, Virginia.
Gerostergiou’s game-winner came after UMaine averted a last-minute collapse after The Tribe had erased a five-point deficit and failed to execute a potential game-winning possession.
Coach Richard Barron’s Black Bears (8-4) were coming off Friday night’s loss to North Carolina at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Despite the quick turnaround and travel challenges, they were able to persevere.
“For us to get a win here on the road, following that North Carolina game, is a huge, huge thing for our program and these kids and the mood that they have going into this break,” Barron told Don Shields of the Black Bear Sports Network.
Sophomore guard Sigi Koizar sparked the UMaine offense with 15 points, including three 3-pointers, along with six assists. Junior Liz Wood provided 14 points and nine rebounds and Anna Heise contributed 11 points and five rebounds.
Chantel Charles and Gerostergiou chipped in with six points each for the Bears, who overcame 18 turnovers and wound up shooting 41 percent from the field.
Marlena Tremba led William & Mary with 16 points, three assists and three steals. Abby Rendle posted nine points and eight rebounds along with five blocked shots.
The Tribe shot only 33 percent for the game but outscored UMaine 9-1 from the foul line. The hosts also came away with a 36-35 rebounding edge.
“Our defense did a good job of keeping us in the game,” Barron said. “For the most part, our rebounding was good until that stretch when they took the lead.”
Koizar’s driving layup with 1:20 remaining had given UMaine a 51-46 lead, but William & Mary came storming back.
Tremba stepped to her left and knocked down a 3-pointer with 1:03 to play, then Kyle Kerstetter came up with a steal of a pass by Charles in The Tribe’s full-court pressure. That led to a layup by Jazmen Boone that tied the game with 48 seconds left.
UMaine negotiated the pressure on the ensuing possession, only to have Wood get trapped in the corner and commit a turnover on a pass back to the top of the key. Boone’s steal led to a W&M timeout with 18 seconds to play.
The Tribe attacked immediately as Tremba drove the baseline, but she stepped out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Bears. UMaine again had to break the press and appeared to have a good look at the basket.
However, Wood’s pass to Heise in the lane was low and bounced back to Wood, who kicked the ball out to Gerostergiou, whose 3-pointer hit the rim, then the backboard, before falling through the net.
The hosts could not get the desperation equalizer.
“Christiana with some rebounds and two huge 3’s, it’s great to see a freshman make that contribution in that moment,” Barron said.
UMaine had led 33-27 four minutes into the second half, but W&M responded with a 12-0 run to go on top 39-33 at the 10:40 mark. The surge included four points from Kasey Curtis.
However, the Bears answered with a 10-2 run, capped by a Gerostergiou 3-pointer that put UMaine back in front with 7:36 remaining.