Junior guard Chantel Charles scored a career-high 16 points, including three clutch baskets in the final 6:20, and sophomore guard Sigi Koizar hit three free throws and had two key defensive rebounds in the final 46.2 seconds to lead the University of Maine to a 52-44 America East women’s basketball victory over Albany on Sunday in Albany, New York.
It was Maine’s eighth straight win and pulled the Black Bears into a first-place tie atop America East with the defending three-time champion Great Danes, who brought an eight-game winning streak into the game.
It is Maine’s longest winning streak since 2005.
Both teams are now 8-1 in the conference. Albany beat Maine 49-43 in Bangor earlier this season.
Maine is 16-6 overall while Albany is 15-7.
The Black Bears, who led by as much as nine in the second half, had lost their last 10 meetings with the Great Danes.
Maine was holding a 35-28 lead with 9:23 remaining but the Great Danes used a 15-9 run to pull within 44-43 on two Shereesha Richards free throws with 3:05 left.
Charles hit a turnaround jumper to extend the lead to 46-43 and, after a Sarah Royals free throw with 1:37 left cut it to 46-44, Liz Wood grabbed a defensive rebound off a Zakiya Saunders miss and Koizar was fouled with 46.2 seconds left.
She sank both.
Following an Albany turnover, Koizar was fouled and made one of two to make it 49-44 with 37 seconds remaining.
Koizar rebounded a missed 3-pointer by Erin Coughlin and called a timeout while sitting on the court to avoid being tied up.
Anna Heise hit a free throw with 20.1 seconds left and Koizar rebounded another Albany miss, was fouled and sank both free throws to sew up the win with 11.6 seconds left.
“Chantel Charles had her best game as a Black Bears,” said Maine coach Richard Barron. “She really made a difference.”
In addition to her 16 points, Barron said Charles was “flying around and being very disruptive” defensively and showed great composure while helping them break the Albany press.
“This was a great win. We worked hard,” said Charles.
Charles said she is more comfortable and confident now and felt she had the potential to have a breakout game.
Charles had hit a jumper to give Maine a 41-36 lead and another with 5:25 left to expand the lead to 44-38.
Charles also had three rebounds and two assists to go with her 16 points.
Koizar had a game-high 17 points along with six rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.
Heise had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals and did a good job defensively stopping Albany’s penetration.
Sophie Weckstrom had seven points and three rebounds and Wood, despite being held to two points, grabbed nine rebounds and dished out two assists.
Barron called it the biggest win in his four years at the helm.
“But it is just one win. It counts as much as every other game. But it was a step forward for us,” he said.
“It was a great defensive effort by both teams. We took care of the ball well enough and we hit enough shots even though we didn’t shoot a high percentage,” he added.
Maine shot 38.5 percent from the floor to 25 percent for Albany, which entered the game with a league-best 52 percent shooting percentage. Albany missed all 10 of its 3-pointers.
Richards, the league’s Player of the Year last season, had 15 points and eight rebounds to pace the Great Danes. Imani Tate and Royals had 10 points apiece.
Tate had six rebounds and two steals. Former Lake Region of Naples star Tiana-Jo Carter had five points and nine rebounds.