By Adam Robinson
The University of Maine women’s basketball team is just one win away from matching their win total from last season, and it’s still only November.
The Black Bears extended their season-opening win streak to three games against the Long Island University-Brooklyn Blackbirds Friday night before being brought back down to Earth against an undefeated Syracuse University squad Sunday afternoon to move to 3-1 on the young season.
Senior guard Ashleigh Roberts paced UMaine with 33 total points in the two games.
Black Bears overcome Blackbirds 66-50
UMaine dominated all facets of the game Friday against LIU to win their third straight game, 66-50. Roberts led the team with 19 points.
The lead was taken early in the game by LIU as they went up 12-8 with 8:41 left in the first half after senior guard Cleandra Roberts hit two free throws. UMaine wasn’t fazed as junior guard Courtney Anderson scored 3 of her 8 points off a trey to put the Black Bears within one.
UMaine went up by 22-16 with just over five minutes remaining in the half after back to back baskets by Roberts. UMaine shot well all night, completing 49 percent of their shots against the LIU Blackbirds while LIU struggled, evidenced by their 27.6 percent shooting clip on 16 of 58 shooting.
Sophomore guard Lauren Bodine hit one of her five 3-pointers at the buzzer to keep the Black Bears rolling going into half time. Bodine finished with 15 points on five 3s.
Bodine kept her hot hand right out of the gates to start the second half, hitting a 3 in the corner to stretch the lead to 36-23. LIU shot 25 percent in the second half and could not get much offense going at all.
LIU senior guard Courtney Sullivan hit a 3 to cut the LIU deficit to 16 points about half way through the second half, but it did little to stymie the Black Bears. Sullivan finished the contest with 5 points off the bench for the Blackbirds.
Bodine hit another three from the top of the key to increase the UMaine lead to 17 with just under 10 minutes left in the game. The Black Bear’s 50-33 advantage was the biggest of the night to that point.
UMaine outrebounded the Blackbirds 41-30, the first time LIU had been outrebounded during the season. Fourteen points were scored off of second chance opportunities by UMaine, three more than LIU. Sophomore forward Liz Wood led the Black Bears on the glass with eight boards to go along with 8 points.
A Wood layup with a little under three minutes left increased UMaine’s lead to 21, their biggest of the game. LIU made a couple late buckets to make it a 16-point game with just under a minute remaining in regulation, but UMaine would hit a late jumper to finish the game 66-50.
Eighteen assists by the Black Bears doubled the amount that LIU totalled. UMaine will need to take better care of the basketball if they are to continue their win streak. The Black Bears committed 20 turnovers Friday night.
Orange hand UMaine first loss in 97-42 blowout
The Black Bears entered the Carrier Dome with a perfect 3-0 record in 2013. They left with their first defeat of the season at the hands of Syracuse University, 97-42.
Syracuse sophomore guard Brittney Sykes led the undefeated Orange to their fifth win of the year with 19 points.
Syracuse stepped on the throttle early, scoring the first 12 points of the game in the first three minutes. The Black Bears scored their first bucket with just over 14 minutes left in the first half. UMaine shot a lowly 31.5 percent from the floor while Syracuse shot 44.4 percent and dominated the game from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
UMaine’s offense went cold again along with their defense. Syracuse went on a 15-0 run to make the score 27-2 in the first half. UMaine junior guard Courtney Anderson hit a 3 to make it 27-5 mid way through the first, but finished the game with just 5 points.
Scoring came easy for the Orange as Syracuse dominated down low and outside. Sophomore guard Brianna Butler hit four straight buckets in the first half and finished the game with 15 points off of five 3-point buckets. UMaine didn’t have an answer in the post either, being outscored 42-18 in the paint and 55-33 on the glass.
Sykes led her team on another 7-0 run to finish the first half with 10 points. UMaine sophomore guard Sophie Weckstrom hit a 3 with just over six minutes left to finally cross the Black Bears into double digits. She would hit another 3 moments bring the score to 51-13 heading into the break.
Anderson hit a layup at the start of the second half to quickly get UMaine on the board. Sophomore forward Mikaela Gustafsson added a bucket to make the score 57-17 early in the second.
Syracuse 6’ 4” freshman forward Briana Day finished the game with a double-double off the bench in the second half. Her 13 points would have been second most on the Black Bears squad. She also brought down 12 boards.
Senior guard Ashleigh Roberts scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half to lead the Black Bears, her fourth consecutive double-digit scoring game. UMaine could not overcome their own mistakes, however, turning the ball over 27 times to Syracuse’ nine.
“Today we did a really good job getting out in transition and getting easy baskets coming up and down the floor,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “I was really most happy with the way we played overall.”
Syracuse freshman guard Isabella Slim scored 10 points.
Syracuse will put their 5-0 record on the line when they face the University of Texas in the Virgin Islands for a neutral site matchup Nov. 28. The Black Bears host the University of Massachusetts at the Cross Insurance Center Nov. 29 at 5 p.m.