BANGOR, Maine — Most observers don’t expect the University of Maine women’s basketball team to beat a squad from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
This season’s senior-laden Black Bears have reached the point where they are supremely confident against virtually any opponent.
UMaine’s experience and swagger were in evidence on Friday night as the Black Bears rolled to a 75-42 victory over Clemson at the Cross Insurance Center.
“We want to play at that next level, we’re ready and I think that people see it now, so they’re impressed seeing the level that we’re playing at,” said senior forward Liz Wood, who posted a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds along with four assists.
“Finally, we’re beating these teams that we should have been beating, but before maybe we were scared because of their name or something. Now we know that we’re a quality team,” she added.
The 33-point margin of victory was the largest ever for an America East team over a squad from the ACC. Combined with a previous win over LSU, it marks the first time a UMaine team has ever beaten two teams from a major conference in the same season.
Senior post player Mikaela Gustafsson, who along with Wood owned the paint against the Tigers’ bigger frontcourt players, said the Black Bears simply try to play well.
“It’s fun playing against a team coming from the SEC or the ACC because there’s a lot of prestige to it,” Gustafsson said.
“(But) for us it’s just another opponent and I think we’re more focused on doing our best and focused on what we can do,” she added.
Coach Richard Barron’s UMaine ballclub (9-4) held Clemson to 33 percent shooting, affording the Tigers only 11 points combined during the second and third quarters.
UMaine executed well on offense, shooting 27-for-47 (57 percent) and grabbed a 37-21 rebounding edge.
“I thought for the majority of the game we were really locked in defensively and doing the right things,” Barron said. “I thought we did a great job on the boards. We did a good job of containing them without fouling.”
Junior Sigi Koizar lit up the Tigers for a game-high 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting and handed out four assists. Sophie Weckstrom tossed in 15 points and made three steals and Gustafsson contributed nine points, six rebounds and four assists.
Nelly Perry scored 12 points to pace Clemson (3-8), which is among only three Division I teams with no seniors on the roster.
UMaine’s defense, mostly its 2-3 matchup zone, held Clemson scoreless for a span of 10 minutes, 33 seconds, spanning the second and third periods. The Black Bears scored 19 points during that time, turning a seven-point lead into 24-point bulge midway through the third quarter.
“I think it’s so much fun when you get those defensive stops,” Gustafsson said. “It’s almost like you can get on a defensive run — like you can get on offensive runs.”
UMaine pulled in front with an 8-0 run late in the first half, just after Perry hit a foul-line jumper for what would be Clemson’s last basket until the 3:52 mark of the third.
Weckstrom snipped a 3-pointer, Gustafsson scored with the left hand from underneath and Koizar buried another 3 after a Bella Swan steal to make it 33-20.
The Bears then scored the first 11 points of the second half as part of a 22-4 extended run that made it a 31-point game after three periods.