The University of Maine women’s and men’s basketball teams continued to move in opposite directions Wednesday night with the women beating the University of Vermont 57-54 in Burlington, Vt., while the UMaine men suffered an 82-71 loss to UMass Lowell in Lowell, Mass.
It was the 12th straight victory for the UMaine women who improved to 20-6 overall and 12-1 in America East while the UMaine men dipped to 3-23 and 2-11.
In the women’s game, Vermont was able to cut a 10-point Maine lead down to just one but a pair of 3-point attempts with under 30 seconds remaining in the contest did not go, securing the Maine win.
Sigi Koizar paced Maine with 16 points while Mikaela Gustafsson chipped in with 12. Sophie Weckstrom added 10 points while Liz Wood contributed nine points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Kylie Butler and former Leavitt star Nikki Taylor each scored 14 points for Vermont (5-21, 2-12).
Maine shot 44.4 percent from the floor (20 of 45) while holding Vermont to a 40.8 effort (20 of 49).
Vermont outrebounded Maine 33-28, but the Bears capitalized on 19 Vermont turnovers, scoring 19 points off the miscues.
The Black Bears held their 15th straight opponent to under 60 total points.
The first half featured a seesaw battle with five lead changes and a pair of ties, with neither team taking more than a five-point edge in a tightly played opening 20 minutes.
In the men’s game, Lance Crawford poured in 35 points, highlighted by an 11-of-18 effort from the field, to power Lowell by the Black Bears.
Matt Harris added 21 points for Lowell (12-15, 6-8), which outrebounded Maine 34-26.
Till Gloger paced the Bears with 23 points and nine rebounds. Zarko Valjarevic and Troy Reid-Knight each added 11 points while Aaron Calixte and Kevin Little each put in 10.
Reid-Knight also had eight rebounds and Little notched five assists.
Gloger drew the Black Bears closer with a bucket with 7:40 left in the game to make it 61-55. The basket gave him 21 points for the game, marking the second time this season he has surpassed 20 points in a game.
Crawford rallied the River Hawks as they upped their lead to 67-58 with just under five minutes to play.
Maine wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the way as UMass Lowell outscored the Black Bears 15-13.
Men’s Basketball
Husson 81, UMF 76
At Farmington, Aaron Willis and Jacob Moore each hit two free throws in the final minute to secure the North Atlantic Conference win for Husson.
Raheem Anderson paced Husson (19-5, 14-3 NAC) with 23 points while Willis and Trevon Butler each added 19. Moore finished with 15. Butler also had seven rebounds while Willis had six rebounds and six assists.
Thomas 87, MMA 82
At Waterville, Levi Barnes scored 25 points to lead Thomas by Maine Maritime Academy.
Adam Carlsen added 14 points for Thomas (11-13, 9-8 NAC) while Eric Westbrooks and Justin Murray put in 12 each.
For MMA (3-21, 2-15), Nick Holt recorded 19 points, while Tyler Thayer scored 16 points while grabbing 15 boards. Jason Hatch also chipped in 14 points.
Women’s Basketball
Husson 66, UMF 57
At Farmington, Victoria McIntyre scored a game-high 18 points and added seven rebounds to lead Husson by the University of Maine-Farmington.
The Eagles improve to 16-8 overall and 14-3 in NAC play while UMF falls to 11-13 and 10-7.
The Eagles opened up a 39-24 halftime lead courtesy of 15 points from McIntyre and seven points from Stephanie Comstock. Husson forced UMF into 16 first half turnovers while only committing three.
Husson held a 51-36 lead midway through the second half, but the Beavers went on a 19-8 run to get within 59-55 with 2:11 left.
Katy Brochu finished with 12 points and six rebounds for Huson while Kelsea Bouchard added nine points.
Lindsay Ranquist scored 14 points and had six rebounds for UMF.