BOSTON — Northeastern University scored 13 unanswered points to close out the first half, building a nine-point lead on the way to a 63-55 women’s basketball victory over the University of Maine at the Cabot Center on Saturday afternoon.
Stella Clark paced a balanced effort for Northeastern (10-1) with 15 points and eight rebounds. Gabby Giacone posted 13 points and six rebounds, while Ayanna Dublin registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds along with four assists. Jess Genco added eight points, five assists and three steals.
The Huskies of the Colonial Athletic Association shot 35 percent overall (24-for-56), including 52 percent in the first half. The hosts outrebounded the Black Bears by a sizeable 45-27 margin which led to 16 second-half points.
Senior Tanesha Sutton led UMaine (7-4) with 22 points on 10-for-13 shooting and eight rebounds. She needs 11 rebounds to reach 500 for her career.
Blanca Millan went only 3-for-12 from the field and finished with 11 points, five rebounds, four assists, three blocked shots and a steal. Kelly Fogarty chipped in with eight points and Maeve Carroll added six points, four rebounds and three steals.
The Black Bears shot 21-for-51 (41 percent) in the contest, but struggled to a 4-for-18 effort from the 3-point arc and missed seven of 16 free throws.
Junior Fanny Wadling, who has been dealing with post-concussion issues, missed her eighth consecutive game.
The Black Bears led 27-23 after Sutton’s layup with 5:33 to play in the half, but the Huskies answered.
Dublin hit a jumper and Shannon Todd made a foul shot, before Dublin’s layup gave Northeastern a 28-27 lead with 3:15 left in the second quarter. Stella Clark answered a missed 3-pointer by Millan with one of her own, Todd sank two free throws and Genco made a jumper to give the Huskies a 34-27 advantage.
Two more free throws made it 36-27 at halftime.
The Huskies made it a 10-point game early in the third quarter and the Black Bears were unable to get closer than four points the rest of the way.
Two free throws by Millan trimmed the Northeastern advantage to five with 8:42 remaining. However, a 9-2 run by the Huskies gave them their largest advantage, 58-46, with 6:02 to play.
UMaine returns to action on Dec. 29 when it travels to Fordham for a 1 p.m. game.