Guards Tanesha Sutton and Parise Rossignol turned in memorable Seniors Night performances on Wednesday night. As a result, the University of Maine women’s basketball took another step closer to defending its America East regular-season championship.
Sutton poured in a game-high 24 points and also produced nine rebounds, two assists, two blocked shots and a steal and Rossignol registered 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals as UMaine pulled away for a 78-58 victory over Hartford in a battle of league leaders at the Cross Insurance Center.
It was also UMaine’s Play 4-Kay breast cancer awareness game.
UMaine (18-7 overall, 11-1 AE) posted its seventh straight win while Hartford fell to 16-9 (9-2 AE).
“Hartford has a great team and I know they were missing one of their better players tonight, but I was really happy with how we attacked them offensively and defensively, especially in the second half,” said UMaine coach Amy Vachon. “We really locked in and focused in on what we wanted to do and, on Senior Night, Tanesha and Parise really led us well.”
Sophomore point guard Dor Saar added 19 points and six assists and junior guard Blanca Millan finished with 15 points, five blocked shots, four steals, three assists and two rebounds. Fanny Wadling chipped in with a game-high 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and two points.
Lindsey Abed paced Hartford with 15 points and five rebounds, Alexia Douglas contributed 14 points and Sierra DaCosta chipped in with 12 points, three assists and two steals. The Hawks were without third-leading scorer and No. 2 rebounder Ella Awobajo (ankle injury).
Saar and Sutton scored 11 points apiece in the first half as UMaine took a 35-28 lead into the intermission.
Hartford was still within striking distance entering the fourth quarter, trailing by 10, but the Black Bears rattled off a 13-3 run over the first 4:47 of the final period to salt the game away.
UMaine went 4-for-6 from the floor, including 3-for-4 from the 3-point arc, during the clinching run. Hartford went 1-for-4 and turned the ball over twice.
Wadling grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Rossignol for a 3-pointer to start the rally and, following a DaCosta steal and layup, Wadling again passed to Rossignol for another 3.
Saar’s jumper in the paint and two Sutton free throws made it 65-47 and, following a Kelly Douglass free throw, Saar hit a 3 off a Sutton pass.
“They hit big shots and did what they do well: Tanesha attacking the rim and Parise hitting those (outside) shots,” said Vachon.
Hartford, behind its full-court pressure, entered the game with a league-leading plus-9 turnover margin but they turned the ball over 18 times compared to UMaine’s 15 and the Black Bears had a 25-13 edge in points off turnovers.
“We knew they were a high-pressure defensive team and they get a lot of points off turnovers. So to be able to force them into more turnovers than we had was huge. We knew coming in that would be a big key to the game,” said Van Buren’s Rossignol.
Rossignol went 6-for-9 from beyond the 3-point arc and Saar went 4-for-7. UMaine was 11-for-26 in 3-pointers (42.3 percent) against the league’s best 3-point defensive team (27.2 percent).
“I love playing here,” said Rossignol. “I feel like every shot is going to go in.”
“We had good ball movement and we were ready to shoot the ball (when we received a pass),” said Saar.
Sutton said it was very much a team effort.
“We did it together,” said Sutton. “From rebounding to making extra passes, making our shots. We really executed on offense and defense.”
Hartford coach Kim McNeill wasn’t pleased with her team’s showing.
“We weren’t disciplined from the jump on either side of the floor,” said McNeill. “We’re a defensive-minded team and I didn’t think we did a good job in the half-court taking things away from them.
“If you want to beat them you have to get stops and tonight we weren’t able to get stops,” added McNeill.
Saar tallied six points during an 8-3 run that closed the first half to supply UMaine with its seven-point lead.