Northeastern University outscored the University of Maine 23-8 in the third quarter and built a 17-point advantage on the way to a 56-44 women’s basketball victory on Friday afternoon at Cabot Gym in Boston.
Samantha DeFreese scored 10 of her game-high 25 points in the pivotal third quarter to help the Huskies (5-2) build a lead they would not relinquish.
UMaine (6-4), which had its three-game winning streak halted, shot 37 percent from the field and did not attempt a free throw.
Junior guard Sigi Koizar paced the Black Bears with 16 points, six assists and four steals, while senior forward Bella Swan finished with 10 points and six rebounds with two steals.
Lauren Bodine added six points and Mikaela Gustafsson contributed five points, four rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot. Senior forward Liz Wood was limited to two points on 1-for-7 shooting, but posted five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
DeFreese went 11-for-14 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds for Northeastern, which shot 21-for-43 (49 percent) and hit six 3-pointers. The hosts outrebounded the Black Bears 34-20.
UMaine held a 23-20 edge at halftime, but it was all Huskies after that. Northeastern limited the Bears to 21 second-half points on 9-for-25 shooting.
UMaine struggled in all aspects in the third quarter. The Bears went only 3-for-11 from the floor, but also committed seven of their 12 turnovers in the period.
Gustafsson made a 3-pointer in the first minute of the third quarter to push UMaine’s lead to 26-20, but it was pretty much all downhill after that.
Claudia Ortiz answered with a 3 for Northeastern, then DeFreese scored a layup off a UMaine turnover. DeFreese followed with a jumper off another miscue, but Sophie Weckstrom answered with a 3-pointer to give the Bears a 29-27 edge at the 6:35 mark.
Northeastern finally began to pull away in the last 4:18 of the quarter. Francesca Sally opened what would eventually be a 17-point run with a jumper, then DeFreese sank two foul shots.
Te’erica Easton followed with two free throws, then Jess Genco hit a 3-pointer, while Sally and DeFreese each made layups as the Huskies extended their lead to 43-31 with 47 seconds remaining in the quarter.
UMaine never got closer than 10 points after that.
The Black Bears are back in action with a Sunday 2 p.m. contest at Dartmouth.