By Adam Robinson
The University of Maine women’s basketball team topped Brown University before falling to Fairfield University in the championship game of the Brown Classic this past weekend.
The Black Bears will put their 5-3 record on the line when they host conference foe Hartford University at the Cross Insurance Center Dec. 11.
Black Bears edge Brown 60-59
UMaine squeaked out a close win in the closing seconds to gain their fifth win of the season, beating the Brown University Brown Bear’s 60-59 in the Brown Classic Saturday afternoon.
Brown moves to 5-4 on the year following their win over Morgan State University the next day.
UMaine got out to the quick 11-4 lead with sophomore forward Liz Wood contributing 4 points during the Black Bear’s run. UMaine held a double-digit lead for a while in the first half, dominating Brown in many aspects. Brown turned on the scoring, going on an 8-0 run to make the score 28-26 led by senior guard Lauren Clarke’s 10 first-half points on 4-6 shooting.
UMaine sophomore guard Lauren Bodine hit a 3 with senior guard Ashleigh Roberts hitting a layup to finish the half with UMaine up 33-28.
Clarke quickly led Brown to their first lead of the game in the opening minutes of the second half.
UMaine sophomore center Anna Heise and sophomore guard Sophie Weckstrom hit back-to-back layups to take the 41-40 lead. Roberts hit a jumper to give UMaine the five-point advantage over Brown, but the Brown Bears were not out of the game by any means at this point.
Brown junior guard Sophie Bikofsky pulled down a game-high nine rebounds while scoring 10 of her 13 points in the second half, keeping Brown in contention the whole contest. Brown sophomore guard Jordin Alexander hit a layup with 3:37 left to give Brown the one-point lead.
With Roberts hitting a free throw and Wood scoring two of her 11 points, UMaine clawed the lead back from the Brown Bears. Roberts finished the game with a game-high 15 points.
Two and a half minutes remained in the game when Bikofsky hit a two-point shot to take the 59-57 lead. UMaine freshman guard Sigi Koizar took the ball and laid it in to tie the game at 59.
Koizar was fouled and connected on her free throw attempts with two seconds remainig to win the game for the Black Bears.
Clarke finished the game with 19 points for the Brown Bears. UMaine out rebounded Brown by four while out assisting them 14-5.
Second half woes clip UMaine in Brown Classic Championship
The Black Bears lost the championship game of the Brown Classic Tournament to Fairfield University 80-59 Sunday afternoon.
Fairfield senior center Brittany Obi-Tabot won MVP honors, scoring 18 points and bringing down seven rebounds. The Stags move to 5-3 on the season with the win.
Weckstrom knocked down a 3-pointer to help UMaine jump out to an 18-14 lead midway through the first half. The Stags stayed in the game, taking the lead a couple of times until the Black Bears hit back-to-back 3-pointers to take a five point lead over Fairfield.
After UMaine went up 27-22, Fairfield senior guard Katie Cizynski hit back-to-back buckets to start a 15-2 run for the Stags. UMaine junior guard Courtney Anderson ended the Stags run by nailing a 3-ball to cut the Black Bear deficit to five heading into halftime 37-32.
At the start of the second half, Fairfield came out pushing the pace with a 12-4 run, led by Obi-Tabot’s back-to-back buckets. UMaine sophomore forward Mikaela Gustafsson found Bodine for a 3 to end the run. Gustafsson dished another assist to Roberts that led to a layup, two of Roberts’ game-high 19 points, making the Fairfield lead only eight.
Fairfield junior guard Felicia DaCruz hit a 3 with 11:32 left to put the Stags up by double digits. DaCruz finished with 14 points in the second half, 19 total.
Fairfield went on another 11-2 streak and never looked back from there. UMaine would hit a couple more shots, trying to scratch their way back into the game but couldn’t find the answer to Fairfield’s offense. The Stags outshot UMaine 58 percent to 42 percent while out-rebounding the Black Bears by 6, 33-27.
DaCruz and Obi-Tabot were selected to the All-Tournament Team.