ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine women’s basketball team outscored New Hampshire 23-9 in the fourth quarter to help guide it to a 67-61 victory in the Buffalo Wild Wings Border Battle on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Black Bears locked up a top-4 seed in the upcoming America East tournament for a 13th-straight season and will host a quarterfinal match-up on March 5. Tickets for the quarterfinal game will go on sale on Monday, Feb. 23 at 10 a.m. at GoBlackBears.com/Tickets.
Adrianna Smith scored 23 of her game-high 35 points, including 17 in the first quarter, while adding 14 rebounds, five assists, and three steals for her 15th double-double and fifth in as many games. Sarah Talon added 13 points, six rebounds, three assists, and two steals while Asta Blauenfeldt chipped in 10 points including a clutch three with 27-seconds remaining.
Maine won the turnover battle for the 13th time in 14 conference games with just seven giveaways as the Black Bears shot 22-of-60 (36.7) from the floor with eight triples while going 15-of-18 from the free throw stripe. The Black Bears won the rebounding battle, 38-31, and held New Hampshire to just 3-of-11 in the fourth quarter.
In a game which featured seven lead changes and 13 ties, the Black Bears used an early 8-0 run with all eight points coming from Smith, to take a 16-11 edge midway through the first quarter.
New Hampshire rallied back to knot the score, 22-22, after one.
Tied at 30-30, the Wildcats put together a brief 4-0 run to take their largest lead of the first half, 34-30.
Lala Woods’ triple off a Maddie Fitzpatrick block sent the game into the break with the Wildcats on top, 34-33.
Blauenfeldt’s triple, 6:08 into the second half, gave Maine a 42-38 advantage.
New Hampshire answered Blauenfeldt’s three with a 16-4 run to take its largest lead of the game, 54-45, with 8:49 left in regulation.
Maine responded in a big way as it pieced together a 15-0 run over the next five minutes of game action.
Triples from Woods and Olivia Alvarez cut the deficit to a pair before Smith tied it on a coast-to-coast layup. Free throws from Smith and Woods elevated Maine’s lead to four before Talon completed the run with a driving bucket. Maine’s lead would be six, 60-54, with 3:30 remaining.
New Hampshire cut the lead back down to one on Eva DeChent’s triple with just under a minute to play.
Talon, working out of a timeout, was able to find Blauenfeldt coming off a curl for a three to give Maine a 63-59 edge with 27-seconds left.
New Hampshire cut the lead to a pair but four free throws down the stretch from Smith sealed the victory, 67-61.
Maine returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 26 when it hosts UAlbany at 6 p.m.