The University of Maine women’s basketball team had its 15-game win streak snapped by New Hampshire as the Wildcats escaped with a 58-57 America East victory on Saturday afternoon at Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire.
The difference came at the free throw line as UNH went 22-for-29 from the stripe to prevail in a game that featured nine ties and six lead changes.
It was the first loss for Maine (5-1, 2-1 AE) since Jan. 26, 2020. The Black Bears had won nine straight against the Wildcats (2-6, 2-3 AE), who scored their first win over Maine since Feb. 15, 2017.
The two teams play again at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Amanda Torres paced UNH with 19 points, including 8-for-11 foul shooting, six rebounds and five assists. Brooke Kane posted 12 points and seven rebounds and Ivy Gogolin added nine points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who outrebounded the Black Bears 49-38.
Blanca Millan led the Black Bears with her seventh career double-double, 17 points and 10 rebounds. Millan, who tallied her 500th career rebound in the contest, now stands at 1,695 career points, just one point shy of tying Emily Ellis for sixth on Maine’s all-time scoring list.
The fifth-year guard also picked up two steals, giving her 282 for her career to move into a tie with Liz Wood for third all-time at Maine.
Anne Simon added 15 points with eight boards while Kelly Fogarty chipped in a season-best nine points. Maeve Carroll returned to the court for the first time this season after a lower-body injury, registering five points and eight rebounds in 17 minutes.
The Black Bears shot only 30 percent from the field (20 of 67), including 11-for-35 (31 percent) from the 3-point arc.
UNH led by four early in the fourth quarter, but 3-pointers by Simon and Fogary gave Maine the edge with 5:32 remaining.
A few minutes later, 3’s by Fogarty and Dor Saar put the Black Bears ahead 57-51 with 1:48 to play. However, UNH held Maine scoreless the rest of the way.
Torres scored from the paint, then Kane answered a missed 3-pointer by Millan with a shot from long distance to get the hosts within a point with 50 seconds to play. Millan missed another 3, then Simon fouled Torres, who sank two free throws with eight seconds left.
Maine failed to execute a play after a timeout, leading to a tie-up. The Black Bears kept the ball, but a steal by Paige Cote on the ensuing inbounds play ended the game.