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The University of Maine women’s basketball team earned their third victory of the season over Maine Maritime Academy on Tuesday night, winning 73-37.
The Black Bears improve to 3-3 on the young season, just one win away from tying last year’s win total.
The Black Bears ran the court with considerable determination, still filled with energy from their first appearance in the Dead River Classic championship game since 2006.
Two minutes into the first half, they already gained an early lead over the Mariners. However, the game slowed down for both teams, with each team going scoreless for the next 4 minutes. The rest of the first half complemented the pace, ending with the Black Bears leading 29-12.
After halftime, UMaine came out of the locker room with a different focus. The Black Bears decided to tighten up their defense, which flustered the Mariners into petty errors. They committed 29 turnovers in the game.
UMaine head coach Richard Barron said his team improved throughout the game.
“We played a great second half,” he said. “Our defense was tougher, we had less turnovers and we had a lot of energy.”
Freshman guard Courtney Anderson scored 10 points with four rebounds and two assists in just 14 minutes of play. The Greene native from paced the Black Bears on a night when 11 of 12 players scored.
“This is different than high school,” Anderson said. “It’s a completely different team. We work hard, and we work hard together.”
Anderson was named to the All-Tournament Team during her weekend debut with the Black Bears at the Dead River Classic Championship, a tournament where the Black Bears fell behind in overtime to Brown University on Saturday.
Junior guard Shareka Maner showed her abilities on the court against the Mariners, scoring a total of nine points for the Black Bears along with three assists and five rebounds.
Anderson was not the only freshman to shake off her rookie status in Tuesday’s game.
Kelsey Mattice, another freshman guard, tallied six points, three assists and three steals; freshman forward Danielle Walczak scored seven points with four rebounds and three assists; and freshman guard Rebecca Knight scored eight points with three rebounds and two steals.
Barron’s ability to recruit fresh talent rang true at the Memorial Gym on Tuesday night. He remains optimistic for even more improvement and hopes to find a balance with the victories.
“We’ve been up and down,” he said. “We had a great game in Rhode Island. Bryant was definitely our worst game. This game went very well. We need to try to be more consistent.”
The Black Bears travel to Annapolis, Md. to play James Madison University on Friday for their first away game in three weeks.
Bangor Daily News