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Although they didn’t break the existing attendance record for a home game, the women’s basketball team couldn’t have been too disappointed with their Groundhog Day contest – a 63-50 victory over SUNY Binghamton. The NCAA-sponsored “Pack the House Challenge,” an effort to increase home women’s basketball attendance, drew nearly 2,000 fans to Alfond Arena on Feb. 2.
Those fans were not disappointed, as they witnessed impressive showings from three young Black Bears – first-year Emily Rousseau and sophmores Amanda Tewksbury and Brittany Boser, who finished in a three-way tie for leading scorer of the game, each contributing 15 points.
The University of Maine, traditionally a second-half team, switched their mentality and came out firing from the start. The Black Bears took a 12-11 lead midway through the first half and never looked back, shooting 43.5 percent from the floor and 50 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, en route to a 36-22 lead going into the locker rooms. The second half was more evenly matched, with Binghamton outscoring UMaine by a score of 28-27, including a 13-2 run midway through the second half. However, UMaine proved to be too much for the overmatched Bearcats, as they righted their ship later in the half and went stride-for-stride with Binghamton to hold on for a convincing win, 63-50.
UMaine, a turnover-riddled team earlier this year, proved that they could protect the ball, committing only 17 turnovers to Binghamton’s 16. The Black Bears followed the lead of its tri-stars and always had an answer for Binghamton. This allowed them to seal the deal and gain a much-needed conference win.
The Black Bears were paced by Rousseau in the first half, as she recorded 13 points in the frame, including two three-pointers. Boser dominated the paint throughout, recording a pair of steals to go along with her 15 points. Tewksbury led the way in the second half, scoring UMaine’s final six points to dispel any doubt about the win.
With the victory, UMaine moves to 6-15 overall and 3-5 in America East play. Binghamton falls to 6-14 overall and 4-3 in conference play. Additionally, the Black Bears even up their home record to 4-4 overall and move to 3-1 at home in America East conference play.
The Black Bears travel to the University of Maryland Baltimore-County on Saturday, Feb. 9 for the two teams’ second meeting this season. Maine defeated the Retrievers at home earlier this year. The Black Bears will be looking for their first conference road win of the season. The Black Bears will return home on Feb. 13 to take on SUNY Albany at 7:30 p.m.
