ORONO – The University of Maine’s women’s basketball team used 20 points from graduate student guard Anne Simon and a 19-3 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to beat defending America East champ and preseason favorite Vermont 60-48 at the Memorial Gym on Saturday afternoon.
UMaine, which lost twice to Vermont last season, improved to 9-7 overall and 2-0 in America East, while Vermont fell to 9-7 and 1-1.
UMaine’s win ended Vermont’s 18-game America East winning streak (including playoff games). It was the sixth longest streak in the country.
The game was tied 33-33 when UMaine went on its decisive 19-3 run.
Junior forward Adi Smith had eight points during a 16-3 spurt to close out the third period, and Simon had six, including two layups off her own steals.
Sophomore guard Sarah Talon closed out the quarter converting an offensive rebound off Simon’s miss.
A Talon free throw and Paula Gallego basket opened the fourth quarter to build the lead to 52-36.
But the Catamounts fought back by scoring the next nine points in a span of 1:43 on two 3-pointers by sophomore guard Keira Hanson, sandwiching a three from Emma Utterback.
But that was as close as UVM was to get. Vermont shot 4-for-20 from the floor in the fourth quarter.
Simon had 10 rebounds, six steals and four assists to go with her 20 points. Smith added 15 points and seven rebounds. Junior guard Sera Hodgson had eight points and two rebounds, and Talon finished with seven points and five rebounds. Junior guard Gallego chipped in with five points, five assists and four rebounds.
Hanson’s career-high 20 points, thanks to six 3-pointers, and graduate student guard Utterback’s 11 paced Vermont. Hanson also had two assists. She shot 6-for-15 from long distance after coming into the game having made 8-of-13 in her previous five games.
Utterback had a game-high six assists to go with three rebounds. Senior forward Anna Olson, who got in early foul trouble, had seven points and five rebounds.
UMaine outscored UVM 38-12 in the paint and outrebounded the Catamounts 41-32.
UVM, which averages 17 3-point attempts per game with 4.4 makes, launched 34 and made 11 of them.
“They aren’t used to shooting a lot of threes, and we didn’t want Utterback and Olson to go off and beat us,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon, who used a 2-3 zone to effectively neutralize the impact of All-America East first teamers Utterback and Olson.
“That was our game plan. And we did a really nice job,” added Vachon. “Anne and Adi [Smith] were amazing [offensively and defensively], Paula Gallego had a great game for us and we got contributions, defensively, from some other kids.
“It was a really good team win,” added Vachon.
Smith said defense won it for them.
“We wanted to make them uncomfortable and have to do things they don’t normally do,” said Smith. “And we did a great job of that.”
“We wanted to come out strong in the second half,” said Simon. “We wanted to go on a run, we wanted to punch them first.”
Simon added that they did a really good job defending in the paint and “not fouling under the basket.”
UMaine made 16 of 22 free throws, while Vermont had just four foul shots and made one.
Despite being without Olson for virtually the entire first half, after she was sidelined for picking up two fouls in the first 2:47 of the game, the Catamounts trailed by only three at the half thanks to their six 3-pointers.
UMaine took the biggest lead of the game for either team, 29-24, with a minute to go in the first half, but a UMaine turnover led to an uncontested layup by Utterback. It was UMaine’s seventh turnover of the half.
Simon’s eight points, Smith’s six and Hodgson’s five paced the Black Bears, while Hanson’s 11 points and Utterback’s eight led UVM.
“We played decent to start the game, and then we lost our concepts, defensively, and gave them some really nice looks,” said Vermont coach Alise Kresge. “And they took advantage of it.”
She also said they committed too many fouls, and “you can’t put them on the line.”
“We struggled offensively with moving the ball and getting it to the right person at the right time,” Kresge added. “They’re a tough team. You’ve got to be locked in for 40 minutes to win on the road against a good program.”
Both teams will play again on Thursday. Vermont will visit the University of Maryland Baltimore County for an 11 a.m. game, while UMaine will travel to take on the University of New Hampshire at 6 p.m.