The Boston College women’s basketball team pulled away from the University of Maine during the middle periods Friday for a 64-53 nonconference victory over the Black Bears at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
The Eagles earned their fifth consecutive victory thanks in part to a defense that limited UMaine to 32.2 percent field-goal shooting (19 of 59), well below Boston College’s solid 38.6 percent field-goal defense entering the contest.
Boston College built a 17-point halftime advantage and led by as many as 29 before the Black Bears won the battle of the benches late in the contest.
“We completely did the opposite of what we talked about in our scouting report,” UMaine coach Richard Barron told Learfield’s Don Shields after the game. “It’s extremely disappointing. There are some games when I can say it’s on me, and believe me, I want to take the blame, but this one is on our players. There is no excuse for this loss. It is completely on them.”
UMaine played most of the final three quarters without its leading scorer and most veteran player, senior guard Sigi Koizar, sidelined by an apparent leg injury.
Koizar began the day ranked sixth among NCAA Division I players with 500 minutes played in UMaine’s first 14 games. Her 35.71 minutes per game ranked 49th nationally.
The Black Bears trailed just 15-10 when Koizar left the contest, but from there, coach Erik Johnson’s club dominated the proceedings.
Gina Pineau, a 6-foot-1 freshman forward, paced Boston College with 16 points, seven rebounds and three assists, and Taylor Ortlepp came off the Eagles’ bench to score 10 points.
While UMaine struggled from the field, Boston College shot 47.2 percent (23 of 53) overall, including six of 14 from beyond the 3-point arc compared with four of 19 for the Black Bears.
Freshman forward Fanny Wadling and freshman guard Julie Brosseau led UMaine with 11 points apiece, with Wadling grabbing eight rebounds. Freshman guard Blanca Millan added 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals while playing all 40 minutes, and sophomore guard Isabel Hernandez Pepe also scored 10 points.
The loss was the third straight for 7-8 UMaine, which begins America East play Wednesday at the University of Vermont.
Boston College (7-6) will open its Atlantic Coast Conference schedule Monday at home against Clemson.
Boston College outscored UMaine 28-13 during the second quarter for a 40-23 halftime lead.
The Eagles scored the game’s first 10 points, but UMaine pulled within 12-10 after the first period.
Koizar left the game with 8:07 left in the half and UMaine trailing by five, and Boston College outscored the Black Bears 25-13 during the remainder of the second quarter — with an 11-0 run along the way.
UMaine shot just nine of 30 from the field while committing 10 turnovers in the half, with Brosseau leading the Black Bears with six points on two 3-pointers.
Boston College outscored UMaine 18-9 during the third quarter to extend its lead to 58-32, then took its largest lead at 61-32 on a 3-pointer by Ortlepp 14 seconds into the final period.
“I’m pretty frank about these things,” said Barron. “I’m long-term bullish on our program, but right now, I’m telling you this was as a bad a game as I’ve had in four or five years here.”
