BANGOR, Maine — The University of Maine rallied from a five-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime and freshman guard Dor Saar scored five points in the extra session to lead the Black Bears to a hard-fought 70-68 victory over Bryant University at the Cross Insurance Center on Tuesday night.
Saar broke a 66-66 tie by hitting a jumper from the top of the key just before the shot clock ran down and, after Bryant’s Haley Connors made just one of two free throws with 19.4 seconds left, Saar was fouled and sank both free throws with 17.9 seconds remaining.
Kathleen Everson was fouled with 4.8 seconds remaining and made the first free throw before intentionally missing the second one.
In the rebounding action, the ball was tied up and Bryant had the possession arrow.
But UMaine freshman Maeve Carroll stole the inbounds pass to sew up the win.
UMaine is now 2-1 while Bryant fell to 0-3.
The Bulldogs, beaten soundly by 23 points in their first two games, rattled off a 15-2 spurt in the fourth quarter to build a 61-54 lead with five minutes remaining.
But Tanesha Sutton hit a pair of baskets and Parise Rossignol nailed a three-pointer to tie it.
Kierra Palmer’s layup restored a two-point lead for Bryant but Blanca Millan answered with a driving baseline shot with 1:21 remaining,
Neither team could score in the final 1:21.
Millan, coming off a career-high 28-point game in a 76-51 win over Harvard, had a game-high 26 points. She also had 11 rebounds, five steals, three assists and three blocked shots.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” said Millan. “They’re a good team.”
“I am so proud of Blanca,” said UMaine coach Amy Vachon, who also praised Saar and Carroll for their performances.
Vachon added that “I’m always happy to get a win. This team is resilient. But we’ve got to play better.”
Saar finished with 12 points and two assists and Sutton contributed 10 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Carroll grabbed 10 rebounds and also had four assists, four points and the important steal at the end.
Sydney Holloway had 19 points for the Bulldogs and she also had a game-high 12 rebounds. She also blocked three shots. Naomi Ashley had 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Stephanie Lesko added 10 points.
The teams swapped runs in the first half and wound up tied 29-29 at the intermission.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 10-4 lead thanks to an 8-0 run and held a 14-8 lead in the second period before UMaine closed out the half with an 8-2 flurry keyed by six straight points by Calais’ Maddy McVicar off the bench.
UMaine used a 13-4 spurt to build a 29-20 lead with five minutes left in the half but never scored again as Bryant rattled off the last nine points with Lesko hitting a runner and then nailing a three-pointer off a Hannah Scanlan pass to close out the half.
Helping the Bulldogs during their nine-point run were a number of Black Bear turnovers, as UMaine committed five in the second period.
UMaine starters Sutton, Saar and Wadling missed the majority of the second quarter after each picking up two fouls.
Millan’s 10 points, four rebounds and two blocked shots paced UMaine in the first half and McVicar was next with six. Sutton had four points and two steals.,
Holloway had 12 points and eight rebounds as the 5-10 guard proved to be a handful for the Black Bears with her quickness and penetration. She also blocked two shots.
Ashley had eight points, three rebounds and two assists.
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