Junior guard Olivia Rockwood scored 12 straight points on four 3-pointers spanning the third and fourth quarters as the University of Maine transformed a two-point deficit into a 10-point lead and went on to beat the University of New Hampshire 56-45 at the Lundholm Gymnasium in Durham, New Hampshire, on Monday afternoon.
UMaine snapped a three-game America East losing streak, the first in Black Bear head coach Amy Vachon’s six-year career.
Sophomore forward Adi Smith notched her 14th double-double of the season with 24 points and 14 rebounds, both game-highs, as UMaine improved to 13-12 overall and 9-4 in America East.
UMaine now finds itself in a third-place tie with the University of Maryland Baltimore County, also 9-4. The teams trail 11-2 Albany and 10-2 Vermont.
The New Jersey Institute of Technology, which beat UMaine 56-54 in Orono on Saturday, is fifth at 7-5 and Binghamton is sixth at 6-6 in the conference.
UNH fell to 7-17 and 2-10.
The game was rescheduled from Jan. 11, when it was postponed due to COVID cases at UNH.
Rockwood — who came into the game on a minor resurgence from beyond the 3-point arc with 13 threes in her last 31 attempts (41.9 percent) spanning six games after a 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) showing over the six contests prior — gave UMaine the lead for good at 40-39 by hitting her first three off a Caroline Bornemann pass with 1:08 left in the third period.
After UNH’s Avery O’Connor missed a three and Smith pulled down the rebound, Bornemann fed Rockwood for another three with 30 seconds remaining to make it 43-39.
Rockwood opened the fourth-quarter scoring by nailing a three with 8:56 remaining off a Smith steal and pass.
Following a Brooke Kane miss for UNH and a rebound by Paula Gallego for UMaine, Rockwood hit her final three off a Sera Hodgson pass with 7:58 left in the game to expand the lead to 10.
UNH couldn’t get any closer than eight the rest of the way.
UMaine trailed by as many as six points in the first half before closing out the half on an 18-6 run to take a 30-24 lead into the intermission.
UNH scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to generate a 34-30 lead but UMaine outscored the Wildcats 13-5 over the remainder of the period to restore a 43-39 advantage.
Smith had three assists and two steals to go with her 24 points and 14 rebounds, which included six offensive rebounds.
UMaine had an 11-2 edge in second-chance points over the Wildcats.
Rockwood also chipped in three rebounds.
Skowhegan freshman guard Jaycie Christopher came off the bench and provided the Black Bears with nine points on three 3-pointers and seven rebounds. She also had two assists.
Hodgson produced six points, four rebounds and two assists and sophomore guard Gallego ended up with five points, eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Freshman guard O’Connor’s 12 points and nine rebounds paced UNH and junior guard Adara Groman contributed 12 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Kane had nine points and three rebounds and Breezie Williams wound up with six points, four rebounds and four assists.
Sanford junior Paige Cote had four rebounds and four assists for UNH and she also had a basket.
UMaine will travel to take on Albany in Troy, New York, on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Hudson Valley Community College gym. Albany’s SEFCU Arena is currently undergoing a $12 million renovation.
UNH will host Vermont at 7 p.m. Wednesday.