Blame a portion of it on Jade Tillman.
The second-seeded University of Maine women’s basketball team had its season end when it was streamrolled by top seed Vermont 61-43 in the America East championship game in Burlington, Vermont, on Friday night.
But if the University of Maryland Baltimore County’s Tillman had made a free throw with 15 seconds left in the first overtime in its 68-65 double-overtime loss to Vermont, the Retrievers could have knocked off Vermont and UMaine would have hosted UMBC for the final.
UMaine won both regular season games against UMBC including a 15-point home win.
And the Memorial Gym would have been rocking.
The biggest concern for UMaine entering Friday’s championship game was could they receive enough supplemental scoring to complement America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith?
The answer was a resounding no.
Smith, now a two-time Player of the Year, poured in 22 points, but her teammates only produced 21.
She shot 38.9 percent from the floor, and everyone else shot 23.6 percent.
All in all, the Black Bears had a good season considering the fact Smith was their only natural scorer and their only player who brought a double-digit scoring average into the season.
The two other seniors, Asta Blauenfeldt and Sarah Talon, averaged 9.7 points and 5.5 points per game a year ago, respectively.
Blauenfeldt was the point guard last season and had to adapt to being a shooting guard for the first time this season, and Talon had been more of a rebounder/defender than point-producer.
Blauenfeldt averaged 11 points per game this season, and Talon 8.9 despite being held to two points in the final.
Losing those three certainly leaves a lot of question marks and an uncertain future for next season.
Smith concluded a remarkable career averaging 22.8 points per game, 10.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists this season, all tops in America East along with minutes played (34.8). She is eighth in the country among players from 359 Division I schools in scoring, 17th in rebounding, 51st in assists and tied for seventh in double-doubles with 20.
Smith is the only player in the country averaging 20-plus points, 10-plus rebounds and 4-plus assists. She is one of five finalists for the Becky Hammon Award, which goes to the nation’s top Mid-Major player.
Two freshmen guards cracked the starting five in Lala Woods and Olivia Alvarez, but a lack of depth was a major issue as nobody outside of the starters averaged more than 12 minutes of playing time per game.
St. Joseph’s of Philadelphia transfer Lizzy Gruber from Gardiner came off the bench and played 12 minutes a game and former Bangor High standout Emmie Streams averaged 11.5. Both are juniors.
Transfer forward Kaliyah Sain started eight games but sustained a knee injury against Boston University on Dec. 1 and never returned. The 6-foot Sain averaged 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in 25.3 minutes per game.
She earned a medical redshirt, so she won’t be docked a year of eligibility. In addition to her point production and rebounding, Sain was also an outstanding defender.
“We grew a lot as a team,” said ninth-year head coach Amy Vachon. “The two freshmen in the lineup played a lot and got a lot of experience. Obviously losing Kaliyah early hurt us as far as depth and everything she could for us on the court.”
Smith, Blauenfeldt and Talon shot a combined 44.8 percent from the floor this season, but the rest of the team shot just 33.3 percent.
UMaine’s 40.61 shooting percentage from the floor was 167th in the country, and its 3-point shooting percentage of 28.86 was 269th.
That’s where the team will need help the most, according to Vachon.
“We have to be a better shooting team. That’s number one. We were not a good shooting team this year and that has been our trademark for a long time. We need to be more efficient and effective from long range,” said the five-time America East Coach of the Year.
Blauenfeldt, an All-America East third team selection, averaged 1.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 steals to go with her career-high 11 ppg.
If America East gave out a Most Improved Player Award, Talon would have been a finalist.
In addition to a career-high in points per game, she also grabbed a career-best 4.6 rebounds and averaged 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals.
Woods was a pleasant surprise, averaging 8.4 points per game and she hit a number of important threes. She was also a gritty rebounder, averaging 2.4 per game.
Alvarez had an impressive freshman season as the point guard.
She averaged 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds along with 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals and turned the ball over just 1.5 times per game.
UMaine turned the ball over an average of only 11.4 times per contest which was the fifth lowest in the nation.
The 6-foot-4 Gruber, despite averaging only 12 minutes per game, led the team in blocked shots with 31 and she also averaged 4.3 points and 2.7 rebounds.
Streams was a relentless defender who had a couple of critical steals in big situations. She also did an admirable job spelling Alvarez as the point guard.
UMaine was in a lot of close games and went 8-3 in America East games decided by nine points or less.
Their inconsistent shooting and lack of depth prevented them from winning the conference championship, but Vermont didn’t have much depth either.
The defending champion Catamounts had more experience and getting to play the final at home was a big advantage even though UMaine beat them at the Patrick Gymnasium during the regular season.
Vachon won’t be able to replace Smith, who concluded her career as America East’s only player, male or female, with 1,000-plus points, 1,000-plus rebounds and 400-plus assists.
She scored 1,887 career points, 7th on the school’s all-time list; grabbed 1,052 rebounds (3rd); and dished out 431 assists (5th).
It’s hard to envision next year’s UMaine team being a contender or even a top five team in the league after losing Smith, Blauenfeldt and Talon.
They will return Woods, Alvarez, Sain, Gruber and Streams, five of their top eight players in minutes played per game, and one would expect all five to be better.
Gruber, who has a nice touch around the basket, could become a consistently productive scorer and rebounder if she can become more aggressive which is certainly possible now that she understands the offense.
Two-time Maine Gatorade Player of the Year and Miss Maine Basketball selection Maddie Fitzpatrick was coming off knee surgery and saw limited playing time but could be impactful next season.
Redshirt senior guard Amiyah Donaldson, freshman guard Abby Price, freshman forward Bailey Breen and freshman guard-forward Mackenzie Mori will get the opportunity to earn more playing time along with sophomore guard Izzy Allen. Former Oceanside of Rockland star Breen was a redshirt and the 6-foot-3 post player could be a big help in the paint.
Vachon has two incoming recruits in 5-7 guard Ayla Corrigale from Ontario and 5-9 guard Ava Sewall from Annandale, Virginia.
Vachon said she has two more roster spots she is looking to fill, and she could do so with a veteran player from the transfer portal or a freshman recruit.
The portal would be preferred because they need someone with college experience who can contribute immediately.
“I like everyone we have coming back,” said Vachon. “I really do. We have a great crew. It’s just a matter of who works hard and who steps up. Anyone on the team could. We’ll see who does it. Every year, someone does.”