Graduate student Maeve Carroll poured in a career-high 32 points and the University of Maine women’s basketball team rallied from an eight-point first quarter deficit to beat the University of Maryland Baltimore County 70-59 for its 11th straight win on Saturday at the Memorial Gym in Orono.
UMaine, which has already clinched the top seed for the America East Tournament and the right to host all of its playoff games, improved to 17-10 overall and 14-3 in America East.
UMBC fell to 3-21, 2-12.
The teams conclude the regular season on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Carroll, a forward and a two-time All-America East second team selection, went 15-for-17 from the field and also had two foul shots to shatter her previous career-high of 24 points against Binghamton on Feb. 9, 2020.
The Oakton, Virginia, native also had seven rebounds, four assists, two steals and two blocked shots.
Junior guard Anne Simon added 17 points, five rebounds, and four assists. She was 6-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-4 beyond the 3-point arc.
UMaine shot 54.5 percent from the floor (30-for-55).
Sophomore point guard Alba Orois finished with 13 points and the America East assists leader had seven more assists. She also hauled down five rebounds.
Caroline Bornemann had four rebounds and two assists to go with three points.
Keelah Dixon scored 16 points for the Retrievers and also had three rebounds and three assists. She shot 4-for-7 from long distance.
Janee’a Summers chipped in with 11 points and three rebounds and Alexia Nelson produced nine points, six assists and three rebounds. Danae Marquez had eight points and Loan-Anh Johnson had six.
UMaine outrebounded UMBC 31-22 and had a 46-30 advantage when it came to points in the paint.
UMBC led 14-6 with 3:20 left in the first quarter when UMaine rattled off a 12-2 run that gave the Black Bears an 18-16 lead after one period.
Carroll had the first eight points to tie it 14-14 with 1:24 left in the period.
Summers’ layup off a Dixon feed gave UMBC a 16-14 lead but layups by Simon and Carroll off Orois passes erased the deficit and UMaine never trailed again.
Simon’s three off a Bornemann pass and an Orois layup from a Carroll feed made it 23-16 and Olivia Rockwood passed to Carroll for another layup.
UMBC couldn’t get any closer than five the rest of the way.
A 7-2 run to end the half gave UMaine a 36-26 lead at halftime.