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Any basketball coach will tell you how important it is to hit free throws. Unfortunately, for the University of Maine women’s basketball team, it was Dartmouth College making free throws Tuesday night.
The Big Green made 31 of 37 at the line on their way to an 81-72 victory over the Black Bears before a crowd of 1,704 at Alfond Arena.
“It’s very seldom that you can have five players scoring in double figures and lose, but it came down to free throws, and that’s where they beat us,” UMaine coach Sharon Versyp said.
Versyp got solid contributions from many players once again, but the Black Bears could not overcome Dartmouth’s success at the foul line, headlined by Katharine Hanks, who made 12 of 15 free throws and finished with a game-high 24 points.
UMaine fell to 5-4 on the season, while Dartmouth improved to 4-2.
Dartmouth coach Chris Wielgus attributed her team’s success to a second-half defensive switch that left the Black Bear offense flat.
“We went to a 1-3-1 zone and put our big players on the perimeter, inviting Maine to shoot over us,” Wielgus said. “They were having a hard time so they were forced to put the ball on the floor.”
Down for much of the first half, the Black Bears managed to take a slim 40-39 lead into halftime. The first-year point guard tandem of Missy Traversi and Kim Corbitt led the way in the first 20 minutes, scoring nine and eight points, respectively.
But it was Dartmouth that set the tone in the second half, with the help of its tough zone defense, jumping out to a 61-51 lead with just more than 10 minutes remaining.
“We said at halftime, if they were going to beat us, it would be off the dribble,” Wielgus said.
“We struggled reversing the ball against their zone,” Corbitt said, “and we had trouble recognizing the diagonal passes. We didn’t do such a great job attacking and penetrating.”
Instead of pulling together as a team in the second half, Versyp said her team played like individuals.
UMaine would rally to pull within three, 71-68, with 1:21 remaining, but Dartmouth made its final six free throws, and the Black Bears couldn’t capitalize on their own scoring chances.
“We didn’t have the energy tonight, which was a shocker for me,” Versyp said.
UMaine was returning home after having success on the road the past two weekends, and, in the first half, appeared eager to play in front of local fans. But Dartmouth had other plans, leaving many of the players frustrated.
“It’s sad. I’m sad because these fans come to watch us play and we stink. We don’t want to, we love the fans. It’s just embarrassing,” sophomore forward Heather Ernest said.
Ernest was perhaps the only bright spot for the Black Bears in the second half, scoring 13 of her team-high 17 points. Ernest, who also pulled down eight rebounds, has averaged 15 points per game over her last five, after enduring a slow start to her sophomore campaign.
Sophomore forward Julie Veilleux added 13 points and first-year forward Monica Peterson had 12. Traversi and Corbitt were quiet in the second half and finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the double digit Black Bear scorers.
“I think Melissa Heon not scoring for us and getting into foul trouble really hurt us,” Versyp said. “She’s been our most consistent player and is a spiritual leader.”
Heon, a sophomore guard, came into the game leading the team in scoring and minutes played, but was limited to only 12 minutes Tuesday night.
The Black Bears did look impressive on the glass, especially at the offensive end, hauling down 18 offensive rebounds and scoring 21 second chance points. Peterson had six offensive boards and many of her 12 points came on putbacks.
Guard Courtney Lewis controlled the Dartmouth offense, scoring 15 points and dishing out a game-high nine assists. Katie Skelly and Jamie Librizzi each added 12 for Dartmouth, before fouling out late in the second half.
UMaine travels to New York this Saturday to take on Fordham University before returning home to host University of Rhode Island Dec. 22 in its final non-conference game.
