By Anthony Panciocco
Sophomore forward Liz Wood led the University of Maine’s women’s basketball team to a 72-42 exhibition win over Division-III University of Southern Maine Huskies on Monday.
The game marks the last exhibition contest of the year for the Black Bears before they begin their regular season Thursday night against North Dakota State University.
Monday night’s game was the first ever women’s NCAA basketball game to be held at the brand-new Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The Black Bears were carried by Wood, who scored 21 points and grabbed 12 boards in a team-leading 33 minutes of work. Senior guard Ashleigh Roberts controlled the tempo of the game throughout, adding 10 points and 5 rebounds.
“[Wood is] a tough matchup for us,” USM head coach Gary Fifield said. “She is strong enough to post up against a team like us, but she can also shoot the ball well so she gave us trouble.”
Both teams struggled to find their stride out of the gates as they both committed turnovers on their first possessions. The score stood at 14-13 in favor of the Black Bears 15 minutes in before Wood went on an 11-0 run by herself to kick off a string of 14 unanswered points by UMaine.
“We stayed with them for a decent amount of the game,” said the Huskies senior guard Erin McNamara. “They were a half step ahead of us during that run and it was a real game-changer.”
UMaine led 29-19 at the break. The Huskies’ defensive zone gave the Black Bears some trouble in the first half, letting USM dominate the paint defensively. They let up just two layups at halftime, putting pressure on the Black Bear shooters.
UMaine head coach Richard Barron acknowledged the struggle with the zone, saying, “We saw a lot of zone and that slowed the game down and it affected our rhythm – we lost a lot of our aggressiveness.”
With 10:32 left to play in the second half, the Huskies cut the lead down to nine, the closest they would get for the remainder of the game.
Roberts hit a three-pointer for the exclamation point with three minutes left as UMaine outscored USM 29-10 in the last 10 minutes of play.
It was a tough night for the Huskies, but playing a Division-I opponent presented a challenge and a welcomed learning experience.
“They’re stronger and quicker, as it should be, and they start wearing you down. But I was really happy with our effort,” Fifield said. “The only way you’re going to get better is playing better teams and that exposure is what you get to work on.”
The story of the game was turnovers, as the Black Bears committed 12 turnovers to the Huskie’s 23. UMaine capitalized on the turnovers they forced, scoring 27 points off of them.The inaugural game at the Cross Center was a hit with the Black Bears, but it was the fans that made it special.
“It was really nice having fans here. We had a lot, especially for an exhibition. Hopefully we get even more people next game and continue to grow our fan base,” Wood said.
The Black Bears bout with North Dakota State tips off at 7 p.m. Thursday night. They hit the court again against Bryant University Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
USM will play Salve Regina University Friday night in the UMF Tip-Off Classic, with game time scheduled for 5:30 p.m.