ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine will face defending champ Vermont for the America East championship game on Friday in Burlington after outlasting Binghamton 60-56 on the Skip Chappelle court in the raucous Memorial Gym on Monday night.
Second seed UMaine and top seed Vermont will tip off at 5 p.m. Vermont beat the University of Maryland Baltimore County 68-65 in double overtime.
Fifth-year senior forward and America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith registered her 19th double-double of the season and 10th in a row with 26 points and 12 rebounds, both game-highs, and she also had four assists and three steals as UMaine improved to 19-12 with its ninth win in its last 10 games.
Senior guard Sarah Talon had 17 points, six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot. Senior guard Asta Blauenfeldt produced eight points, three assists, two rebounds and a steal and freshman guard Olivia Alvarez had seven points, three assists, two steals and two rebounds.
Junior guard Bella Pucci led the Bearcats with 24 points, three rebounds and two assists. She had 24 in a 74-67 regular season loss to UMaine in Orono on Feb. 28. Freshman guard Carletta Bennett had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists and junior guard Yanniah Boyd also had 10 points to go with three rebounds and a steal.
But Binghamton junior forward and leading scorer Kendall Bennett was limited to eight points, seven below her average, and just one offensive rebound among her eight. She had four offensive rebounds among her 10 and 19 points in the regular season loss at UMaine.
Senior guard Megan Casey had six rebounds and five assists to go with a basket.
UMaine took the lead for good in the second quarter and led by as much as 11 in the third period before weathering a fourth-quarter rally by Binghamton that closed the gap to three on two occasions late in the game.
Pucci fed Bennett underneath to cut the lead to 50-47 with 2:50 left but Smith sank a free throw 12 seconds later and the Bearcats missed two baskets and turned the ball over twice over the next 2:09 before Smith made another free throw.
Boyd’s layup made it 52-49 with 25 seconds left but two free throws by Blauenfeldt and two by Smith sandwiched one by Pucci and, after a Carletta Bennett three, Talon sewed up the win with two free throws with 13 seconds remaining.
“When it mattered most, we made plays,” said Smith.
“I was real proud of our team,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon. “There was a great atmosphere. The crowd was amazing. Pucci shot lights out against us again but I was happy with how we defended most of the game, especially on the boards. They killed us on the boards last time.”
Vachon said Smith “made huge shot after huge shot” and credited Talon as well, including for knocking down some important free throws.
“It was a great team win,” added Vachon.
Binghamton coach Mary Grimes called it a competitive game.
“Unbelievable on both sides,” Grimes said. “You had Smith with 26, Bella with 24. They couldn’t stop each other. I’m really proud of our team for fighting for 40 minutes the way we have done it all year.”
She called Smith an unbelievable player.
“She does it so many ways and she did it on the defensive end as well today. We had a tough game getting it into Kendall Bennett with her defense,” Grimes said. “(Smith) worked for it and basketball rewards those who work and she got rewarded.”
Smith said she concentrated on moving her feet and not having any lapses when she was defending Bennett.
“If she senses you’re not in the right spot, she’ll sit on you. She’s a real good player so you have to be aware at all times,” Smith said. “And I had to box her out because she’s a great offensive rebounder.”
The Black Bears struggled beyond the 3-point arc, hitting just 4-of-20 with Smith going 2-for-4 and the rest of the team shooting just 2-for-16.
“We find ways to win on both sides of the ball, ” Talon said. “If something isn’t working, we find something else. That’s how hard-working our team is.”
UMaine forced 19 turnovers and only had eight.
Binghamton outrebounded UMaine 35-30 but UMaine had an edge in offensive rebounds 11-9.
Even though she had a rough night shooting, going 3-for-12 from the floor and 0-for-7 beyond the 3-point arc, Blauenfeld worked tirelessly on the defensive side of the ball against Pucci.
Even though she had 24 points, she had to work hard for them and had only two points in the third quarter when UMaine outscored Binghamton 15-10 to open up a 10-point lead.
And her last three was a long heave at the game’s final buzzer.
A Talon three at the buzzer off an offensive rebound and pass from Emmie Streams gave UMaine some valuable breathing room.