BANGOR, Maine — Liz Wood has been doing a little too much thinking on the basketball court this season.
On Sunday afternoon, the University of Maine’s senior leader simply let the game come to her and the results were notable.
Wood connected for a game-high 20 points, pulled down seven rebounds, made four steals, handed out three assists and blocked two shots in a well-rounded performance that helped the Black Bears eke out a 55-52 America East victory over Stony Brook.
Wood shot 8-for-12 from the field and made three 3-pointers to help UMaine rack up its 14th consecutive win at the Cross Insurance Center in front of an energetic crowd of 2,123 fans.
“I think I did a good job being myself,” Wood said. “When I’m overthinking is when I’m kind of overpassing and not leading the way I should. As long as I stay in that mindset, I think that’s when you see that ‘old Liz.’”
Wood’s productivity was magnified because of offensive struggles by a handful of her teammates.
Sigi Koizar (4 assists) and Sophie Weckstrom (3 assists) scored only four points each on combined 2-for-13 shooting, Mikaela Gustafsson (6 points) was limited to six points in 16 minutes because of foul trouble and Bella Swan (9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) went 4-for-12 from the field.
“We’ve played well enough to win, but we haven’t quite gotten everybody clicking together,” said UMaine coach Richard Barron, whose team improved to 14-7 overall, 5-1 in conference play.
Senior Lauren Bodine responded with some key play, posting 10 points and two assists.
“We’ve always been a team that’s kind of won by committee, but we’ve gone from playing a little closer to our averages to kind of these big swells,” Barron said. “We need more consistent production.”
UMaine prevailed because of its gritty defense in the second half. The hosts mixed their 2-3 matchup zone, player-to-player and half-court trapping, helping harass Stony Brook (13-7, 5-2 AE) into 13 of its 20 turnovers in the last 20 minutes.
“It’s hard to defend the turnovers,” said SBU coach Caroline McCombs. “They scored [21] points off of our turnovers … they do a really good job mixing things up defensively.”
The Seawolves shot 46 percent (18-for-39) in the contest, but could not firmly establish their inside game. The Black Bears limited Brittany Snow to 12 points and five rebounds, while freshman standout Ogechi Anyagaligbo, who is averaging a double-double, managed just five points and eight rebounds.
“We did a good job with our interior defense and held their post players under their averages,” Barron said.
Christa Scognamiglio hit four 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 16 points for Stony Brook and Davion Wingate, the daughter of former NBA player David Wingate, finished with 13 points.
UMaine seized the upper hand, cashing in on back-to-back turnovers in the final 1:17 of the third quarter. Swan scored a layup off a penetrate-and-dish move by Koizar, then Bodine knocked down a 3 with eight seconds left that gave the Black Bears a 43-37 lead.
“[Barron’s] been saying, just bring energy if you’re coming off the bench and perform and play your role,” Bodine said.
“I was just thinking about coming out and shooting today and playing my part,” she added.
The hosts scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 10, but Wingate scored four points during a 6-0 burst that kept the Seawolves close.
UMaine led 52-47 on Swan’s close-range basket off a Bodine assist with 2:16 to play, but Anyagaligbo made one free throw and Wingate sank two that got SBU within two points with 30.6 seconds remaining.
The Seawolves made 10 of 12 foul shots in the fourth quarter.
The Black Bears got a foul shot from Wood and fouled Kim Hanlon (3-for-9 at the foul line), who made both ends of a double bonus to make it 53-52 Bears with 18 seconds left.
UMaine inbounded to Bodine, who was fouled and made both free throws.
“I think when I step up to the line it’s an everyday practice free throw,” said Bodine, who went 4-for-4 from the line. “I don’t think about the situation. Once you think about it is when you start to get nervous.”
Stony Brook got two tries on its final possession. Scognamiglio missed a 3, the rebound of which went out of bounds with 0.3 to play. The Seawolves inbounded but were unable to get off a shot before the horn.
“We held on, we got some defensive stops when we needed to, and we executed just enough to win,” Wood said. “It’s good to get a win like that.”