The University of Maine women’s basketball team overpowered the University of New Hampshire 62-48 in the classic border battle. This made head coach Amy Vachon hold the most wins of all-time in UMaine women’s basketball history, with this being her 168th victory. The victory also put the Black Bears at 8-6 in conference and 13-14 overall.
Maine opened up the first quarter against the Wildcats with a three from third-year guard Asta Blauenfeldt just 30 seconds into the border battle. A minute later, she added to the score sheet with a layup to make it 5-0. Fourth-year guard Sera Hodgson made a 3-pointer that made the gap in score bigger. The Wildcats got their first points of the game from a jumper by second-year guard Eva DeChent four minutes in. Quickly after, Hodgson got her second three and fourth-year guard Paula Gallego got a driving bucket to get the score to an 11-point difference. The quarter ended with Blauenfeldt’s layup and DeChent’s split free throw that put the scoreboard at 16-6.
As the game continued into the second quarter, the double-digit lead grew as Maine went off on a 10-0 run to grab its largest lead of the night and held the Wildcats scoreless for over six minutes. Five consecutive points came from second-year forward Caroline Dotsey, along with a layup from Hodgson. The largest lead of the night escalated to a 16-point difference after Gallego’s 3-pointer assisted by graduate guard Caroline Bornemann with just under a minute left. DeChent finally broke the no scoring spell with a jumper with just 30 seconds left in the game. Bornemann responded with a layup right away and entered halftime with a large leading score of 34-18.
The first two minutes of the third quarter went scoreless until fourth-year guard Kenzie Matulonis secured a 3-pointer for UNH. Bornemann got the first points for the Black Bears after a steal led to a driving layup. In return, DeChent stole the ball from Maine after anticipating the pass and was rewarded two free throws after being fouled. Five minutes into the second half, the Wildcats were able to close the gap to a seven point difference with the help of DeChent, who got up to 17 points total at the end of the third quarter. The Black Bears began to lose their rhythm and gave up a total of eight turnovers in just one quarter. The Wildcats took this opportunity to attack with full force and outscored Maine 18-7, with the closest gap of the night being a two-point difference with 17 seconds left in the quarter. Blauenfeldt sealed the end of the hard-fought 10 minutes with a 3-pointer that made the score 41-36 going into the final quarter.
Maine gained their confidence back after Gallego completed a layup and Blauenfeldt drained another 3-pointer two minutes into the last 10 minutes of play, to put their lead back to double-digits. Graduate guard Sydney Lusher, in turn, made a 3 for the Wildcats that made the score 46-40, trying to fight their way back into the game. They were unable to do so, as the Black Bears responded right away with an 8-2 run, with graduate guard Olivia Rockwood’s 3-pointer that made the game a 12-point difference with a little over 3 minutes left to play. Dechent got up to 22 points for the night after completing two layups and a pair of free throws, but it wasn’t enough. Maine was able to secure the lead for the rest of the night, never dropping below a nine-point difference. The game finished with a split free throw from Blauenfeldt, who finished the game with 18 points. Bornemann also posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in Maine’s 62-48 victory.
The Black Bears will conclude the regular season on Saturday, March 1 as they travel to face Bryant at 2 p.m.
