The University of Maine Black Bears men’s track and field team went to Holy Cross University on Wednesday for the first day of a multi-event meet.

The decathlon was the main event of the day, with two Black Bears finishing in the top 10 through five events. First-year athlete Matthew York ended the day in eighth place with a total of 3,263 points. He finished the 100-meter dash in 11.65 seconds, the long jump in 6.42 meters, the shot put in 11.07 meters, the high jump in 1.89 meters and the 400-meter dash in 54.78 seconds.

Fourth-year, multi-event athlete James Rutter finished the first day in seventh in the decathlon with 3,285 points. He finished the 100-meter dash in 10.84 seconds, the long jump in 6.07 meters, the shot put in 12.05 meters, the high jump in 1.71 meters and the 400-meter dash in 54.37 seconds.

Day two of the meet at Holy Cross University took place on Thursday, and the Black Bears once again had some very notable performances in the decathlon.

York finished the 110-meter hurdles in 16.68 seconds, 28.62 meters in the discus, 4.15 meters in the pole vault, 45.49 meters in the javelin and 5:12.56 in the 1500-meter run. This made his total for the meet 6,029 points, good enough to place York seventh all-time on the University of Maine Black Bears outdoor track decathlon list.

Rutter also had himself a day in the decathlon again. He finished the 110-meter hurdles in 15.98 seconds, 37.92 meters in the discus, 3.85 meters in the pole vault, 48.28 meters in the javelin and 5:38.89 in the 1500-meter run. This ran his total up to 6,138 points. That was good enough to put Rutter fifth on the all-time outdoor decathlon list at the UMaine.

Adam Lufkin is a first-year thrower for the University of Maine men’s track and field team. Lufkin throws both the shot put and the discus. He has had a good start to the year, winning the discus in his last meet, along with beating New Hampshire twice and is driven by the high expectations that he has for himself and his team.

“This year I’d like to get back to my personal records from high school, because of the weight change from high school to college, so if I could just get back to what I threw last year that would be good,” Lufkin said. “Long term, I would like to win the America East Championships. I’d also like to take a stab at a few school records, but that’s a long way down the road.”

Adam is an early childhood education student in which he engages in classroom programs and working with children in order to one day get his degree.

Because Lufkin is an involved member of the track team, and because of the demands of his major, he doesn’t have much free time. But when he does, he likes to stay active.

“Besides practice, I like to play basketball. Basketball has always been my favorite sport to play, but I was better in track so I chose that,” he said.

Adam played both basketball and football for the Brewer Witches in high school, along with setting the school record in the discus in outdoor track.

Between daily practices and running around in his downtime, Lufkin enjoys UMaine’s finest of dining halls.

“York. York is definitely my favorite place to eat,” he said. “I’m a grilled cheese and tomato soup kind of guy. I love it there.”

Lufkin grew up near Orono, and attended Brewer High School. Lufkin wanted to stay close to home for college, and because Maine has an established track program, he decided to come to UMaine.

“I like everything about here, except the weather,” he admitted. “There’s almost nothing bad about here.”

While Lufkin is known for his prowess in track and field, he has more talents than just that.

“I play a lot of rummy at home, my family really likes to play card games,” he said. “I can make minute rice in 58 seconds, so that’s pretty cool.”

Athletes are known to be high-octane, competitive people, though Lufkin doesn’t necessarily fit that mold all the time.

“I used to be a dancer,” he said. “I took ballroom dance lessons from sixth grade to my sophomore year. I was actually on the dance team my freshman and sophomore year.”

You can catch Lufkin on the field for the UMaine Black Bears when the team’s season culminates at the America East Championships in Albany, New York in early May.

History was made Monday night: Coach Krzyzewski and the Duke University Blue Devils cut down the nets once again as the national champions, taking down the University of Wisconsin with a frantic comeback in the last 10 minutes. The victory was the fifth title for Coach K, coming just a few months after his 1,000th win.

This win didn’t come easy, but he trusted his freshman to come through and it paid off big time.

The first half was a back and forth, up and down track meet. Wisconsin and Duke trading buckets for 20 minutes, ending the first half at a 31-31 draw. Wisconsin came out of the locker room on fire, jumping out to a nine point lead with 13 minutes left. With freshman sensations Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow in foul trouble, Coach K turned to another freshman in Grayson Allen off the bench, and Allen delivered. Allen went on an 8-0 run himself to draw Duke within one and energize the Blue Devils. This sparked the other freshman superstar Tyus Jones to take the game into his own hands, scoring eight points on three incredibly tough shots down the stretch including a dagger three-pointer that put the game away.

Despite a late three by senior superstar Frank Kaminsky for the Badgers, the Blue Devils were able to hold them off to win the national championship.

While there were questions raised about the officiating, the fact remains that Wisconsin had a nine point lead with 13 minutes left, and Duke’s two best players were in severe foul trouble. While there were two out of bounds calls that may have been wrong, the refs did not cost the Badgers a title; Duke did. The Badgers had every opportunity to put Duke away near the end of the game, and did not.

The Duke Blue Devils proved that they were the best team in the nation, and Coach K did the best coaching job he’s ever done, leading a team with just eight scholarship players, four being freshman, to a title. While we expect Okafor, Winslow and Jones to all go to the NBA, Duke still has to be considered one of the best teams for next year, as they are returning Grayson Allen, Matt Jones, Amil Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee.

Duke is going to be in the mix as long as Coach K is there, as he proved this year that he can win in any era, with any style. By providing leadership to freshman talent, Coach K is one of the best coaches ever, and he proved it last week. It is great way to end a great college basketball season.

The University of Maine Black Bears track and field kicked off the 2015 outdoor season on Saturday at arch rival University of New Hampshire (UNH) with the men taking first overall and the women taking third.

The men’s team was able to capture five individual first place finishes. Fourth-year thrower Alexander Parenteau won the javelin with an impressive throw of 55.65 meters.

The Black Bears were dominant in the distance events. Second-year distance runner Levi Frye carried over the success from his dominant indoor season, taking home first in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 10:18.76.

Maine also saw fourth-year distance runner Jake Leithiser win the 800-meter run in a time of 2:04.43, and fourth-year distance runner Jarrod Lenfest take first in the 5000-meter run in 15:44.16.

Third-year jumper Julian Hubbard was also able to keep his momentum rolling from indoor to outdoor, winning the triple jump with 13.80 meter jump.

Other notable finishes on the men’s side included third-year sprinter Michael Lucas placing second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.51 and fourth-year jumper Herby Lafortune finished second in the long jump with a jump of 6.52 meters.

The Maine men’s team finished with a total of 146 points, good for first overall at the meet.

On the women’s side, second-year thrower Ashley Donohoe had a big day, winning both the shot put and the discus with throws of 12.09 meters and 39.51 meters respectively.

Both the 4×100 and 4×400 meter relays were able to capture first for the Black Bears. The 4×400 meter relay included second-year sprinter Teal Jackson, first-year sprinter Kaitlin Saulter, fourth-year distance runner Mary Scanlan and second-year distance runner Kelsey Maxim. The 4×100 meter relay included third-year sprinter Katelyn Guilmette, second-year sprinter Grace MacLean, Jackson and third-year pole vaulter Jaclyn Masters.

Other notable finishes on the women’s side included second-year distance runner Hannah Stefl winning the 3000-meter steeplechase in 13:51.52, fourth-year thrower Robyn McFetters winning the hammer throw with a 53.52 meter throw and Jaclyn Masters winning the pole vault with a 3.72 meter vault.

The women were able to capture third overall at the meet, scoring 147 points as a team.

The track and field teams will be back in action at the Wildcat Invitational on April 11th at the University of New Hampshire.

The NBA playoffs are almost upon us, and there are two teams that are on a collision course of destiny: The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors.

The path couldn’t be clearer for the Cavs, as the Eastern Conference has been parting like the Red Sea as of late for Cleveland.

The Bulls were once considered the favorites, but yet another Derrick Rose injury has all but eliminated them from serious title contention. Even if Rose does come back, don’t expect to see the Bulls in the NBA Finals.

The Miami Heat, a potential first-round matchup for Cleveland, seem to be fading as the season draws to a close. Had Chris Bosh not suffered from blood clots and been shut down for the season, the Heat would have to be serious Eastern Conference contenders. Even with the emergence of Hassan Whiteside and the addition of Goran Dragic, it will not be enough come playoff time and they will struggle to wrestle a playoff spot away from the Indiana Pacers.

The Toronto Raptors and the Washington Wizards were two teams that a lot of people picked to make a deep playoff run at the beginning of the season, but both have struggled the past two months, and now they are likely to meet in the first round. Both these teams have incredible young talent, but both seem to be a year or two away from being able to make a serious run at a title.

The only team in the East that pose a legitimate threat to Cleveland are the Atlanta Hawks. They have had the best record in the East all season, and many people call them “The Spurs of the East”. They move the ball incredibly well, and have a great starting five willing to share the ball and who don’t care who scores. This is usually a formula for success in the postseason, but not this year. While they would have home court advantage against the Cavs in the Conference Finals, Cleveland would be favorites for one reason and one reason only: they have LeBron James.

James has been to the Finals each of the past four years, winning two of them. While team basketball is pretty to watch and fundamentally sound, the fact is superstars win titles, with few exceptions. Since 2000, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan and LeBron James have won 11 titles. At least one of them have appeared in all but one, in 2006. Those other four years? The 2008 Boston Celtics lead by Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. The 2006 Miami Heat lead by Dwayne Wade and Shaquille O’Neal. The 2011 Dallas Mavericks lead by Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Kidd. The only team since the turn of the century to win a championship without a superstar were the 2004 Detroit Pistons. While the Atlanta Hawks play great team basketball, the Cavs have LeBron, and history tells us that can make the difference.

Out in the wild Western Conference, The Warriors have a date with destiny in June. The road to the Finals may be tougher than ever before, but Golden State is ready to take their place as the next dynasty in the NBA.

Obviously the San Antonio Spurs, defending champs, will have something to say about that. Many people would favor the Spurs against the Warriors if they were to meet in the postseason. In order for that to happen, San Antonio would have to get past either Houston or Memphis. The Spurs are getting older whether Popovich wants to admit it or not, and Houston has a potential MVP in James Harden along with Dwight Howard, and Memphis has maybe the best frontcourt in the game in Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol. Any of these three teams could defeat Golden State in a seven game series, but can they after having to win two grueling series first?

Perhaps the biggest challenger to the Warriors in the loaded Western Conference are the Los Angeles Clippers. A popular pick to win it all back in October, the Clips had a rough few months on their way to finding their rhythm. The Clippers-Warriors are the best rivalry going in the NBA, and it would be incredibly fun to see these two battle it out in the Western Conference Finals, but the Warriors would win out in the end.

They have the likely MVP in Stephen Curry, an All-Star in Klay Thompson, likely Defensive Player of the Year in Draymond Green and likely Coach of the Year in Steve Kerr. Harrison Barnes is an elite wing defender and Andrew Bogut, when healthy, is an elite rim protector. Leandro Barbosa can shoot the lights out off the bench, Marreese Speights and David Lee provide a plethora of size off the bench, and Shaun Livingston and Andre Igoudala are great defenders. Golden State even has the best fan base in the Association, providing a college-like atmosphere for the Warriors. No one is beating them, East or West.

The Warriors will win the title this year. Cleveland is good, and they will run over the East, but LeBron will struggle just like he did in his first year with the Heat. The only difference is he lost to the Mavericks that year, a team that had hit its peak and started to fall off. This time around, an older LeBron will have to go through the next great dynasty in the NBA: the Golden State Warriors. Golden State will beat the Cavs in six games and Curry will be the Finals MVP, when the next dynasty begins.

Love was in the air on Saturday, but none of it was headed for the University of Maine men’s basketball team. The Black Bears travelled up to Stony Brook University on Valentine’s Day for an America East showdown with the Seawolves. The Seawolves were led by a strong second half to an 80-52 victory.

Stony Brook jumped all over Maine early, taking a 6-0 lead out of the gate. The Seawolves hit a pair of three-pointers to push the lead to 12-0, forcing Maine to call its second timeout less than four minutes into the game.

Third-year forward Till Gloger finally broke the scoring seal for the Black Bears with 15:26 left in the first half.

UMaine then went on a 16-6 run ignited by 12 points from both second-year guard Troy Reid-Knight and third-year guard Shaun Lawton, cutting the lead down to just three with nine minutes left in the half. From there, Stony Brook would go on a 9-2 run, and eventually push the lead to 42-25 at the half.

Stony Brook didn’t skip a beat after the half, going on an 8-2 run, and took a 52-27 lead into the first media timeout.

The Seawolves never looked back, at one point extending their lead to 39 points thanks to a three-pointer from first-year guard Bryan Sekunda, making the score 72-33.

The Black Bears were paced by Till Gloger with 15 points and Shaun Lawton with 11 points and seven rebounds. Stony Brook saw four different players reach double figures, with two of the grabbing double-doubles. Third-year forward Jameel Warney tallied 13 points and 11 boards and third-year forward Rayshaun McGrew had 10 points and 15 rebounds. The Seawolves also had third-year guard Carson Puriefoy with 12 points and first-year guard Roland Nyama who lead the game with 24 points.

With the loss, the University of Maine falls to 3-22 overall and 2-10 in America East play, while the Stony Brook Seawolves improve to 17-10 on the season and 8-4 in conference play.

The Black Bears will be in action on Feb. 18 at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.

The University of Maine Women’s Swimming and Diving team traveled down to rival University of New Hampshire (UNH) in a dual meet Friday night as a part of rivalry week.

The UNH Wildcats defeated the UMaine Black Bears 176-99. The standouts for the Wildcats included first-year swimmer Liza Baykova who won the 200-yard freestyle in 1:51:11, second-year swimmer Sarah Broderick who won the 100-yard backstroke in 58.45 seconds, second-year swimmer Katie Mann who won the 200-yard butterfly in 2:02:74, and fourth-year diver Nicole Zahka won the three-meter dive with a score of 271.60.

For the Black Bears, second-year diver Hayli Weitz, won the one-meter dive with a score of 187.20.

Other Black Bear standouts included third-year swimmer Angela Bleeker was able to take home first place in the 200-yard backstroke in a time of 2:24:38, third-year swimmer Cassandra Bonnett won the 500-yard freestyle in 6:21:62 and fourth-year senior Abby Linn was able to capture the 200-yard individual medley title with a time of 2:21:94. Maine also won the 400-yard freestyle relay in 3:42:10.

Members of the relay team were some of the most successful UMaine swimmers this year, which included fourth-year swimmer Naja Harvey, second-year swimmer Katerina Mosquera-Cardi, first-year swimmer Chloe Adams and first-year swimmer Emily Borger.

The next time the University of Maine Black Bears women’s swimming and diving team will be competing is on Thursday Feb. 12 in Worcester, Mass., when they will compete for the America East Championships.

This is the last dual meet for the Black Bears, ending a very successful regular season campaign. In dual meets, UMaine was 3-3 including big wins against Providence College, Bates University and Bryant University.

The University of Maine men’s basketball team dropped a pair of games last week, the first to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) and the second to the University at Albany. The Black Bears see their record slip to 2-20 with the losses.

UMaine falls to rivals

The Black Bears hosted UNH Wednesday night at the Cross Insurance center in Bangor. UNH was all over the Black Bears early, jumping out to a 9-0, and eventually a 19-3 lead.

Fourth-year forward Zarko Valjarevic cashed in on a jumper at the 8:00 mark for his only two points of the night, sparking a 5-0 run.

Despite shooting just 28 percent from the floor, Maine ended the first half on a 17-3 run, cutting the lead to just 23-20 at the intermission. The run was fueled by third-year forward Till Gloger, who had eight points and rebounds, along with third-year guard Shaun Lawton who tallied six points, three boards and a steal.

The Wildcats had a very balanced scoring first half with six different players scoring, lead by second-year guard Daniel Dion with six.

“I was just really disappointed in our team’s toughness tonight,” UMaine head coach Bob Walsh said. “UNH just came out and was tougher than we were.”

The Wildcats came out of the locker room strong, building a 27-20 lead after a couple of free throws and a layup, but the Black Bears weathered the storm, thanks to three-pointers from first-year guard Kevin Little and second-year guard Troy Reid-Knight, eventually cutting the lead to 33-32.

First-year guard Kevin Little hit a floater in the lane to give Maine their only lead of the game at 34-33. From there, the Wildcats went on a 11-0 run, led by first-year forward Tanner Leissner, who had seven points. UNH continued to stretch their lead all the way to 51-39 with just under four minutes left.

The Black Bears began to battle back and chip away at the lead, sparked by Little’s 18 points in the second half. After a series of free throws by both sides, the Black Bears were able to get the score to 58-56 after a Kevin Little layup.

The Black Bears were able to keep pace in the final minutes through poor free-throw shooting and aggressive offense from Little. Lawton had a chance to tie things up in the closing seconds, but air-balled it.

“It was a good look, I just short-armed it,” Lawton said.

“I’m really proud of those kids, this is uncharted territory for us,” UNH head coach Bill Herrion said. “We’ve lost the last few years, we’re learning how to win. That’s the kind of game we lost the last few years.”

With the win, the Wildcats move to 12-9 overall, 5-3 in the conference, while the loss knocked the Black Bears to 2-19, 1-7 in America East play. The Black Bears will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 31 as they play host to America East-leading University at Albany at 2 p.m.

Black Bears play Albany tough

The Black Bears played host to another conference rival, the University at Albany, Saturday afternoon, a game in which they fell 77-59.

Heavy hearts occupied the Cross Insurance Center as the mother of Albany third-year guard Peter Hooley’s mother passed away after a long and courageous fight against cancer.

“This situation has been tough on our team, and I think we did what Sue Hooley wanted us to do tonight, which was get a win,” Albany head coach Will Brown said.

The tone of this game was set early as the offense was fast and furious. Great Danes third-year guard Evan Singletary got off to an incredibly hot start, scoring eight points in the first five minutes including two, three-pointers.

Maine was able to hold their own from beyond the arc and keep pace with the number one offensive team in America East with early three’s from fourth-year forward Zarko Valjarevic, third-year guard Shaun Lawton and second-year guard Troy Reid-Knight. Maine was able to shoot a very respectable 44 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, in a very tightly contested first 20 minutes which saw Albany lead 30-27.

The Black Bears came out of the locker room firing with a couple baskets from first-year guard Aaron Calixte and Zarko Valjareivc to give Maine a one point lead, and then Troy Reid-Knight opened it up for the Black Bears with a three-pointer to give Maine a 36-32 lead.

Albany decided to switch up their defense from a man-to-man to a zone, and from then on, they took the game over with a 16-0 run over the next five minutes. First-year guard Wheeler Baker sparked the run with three, three pointers en route to a 60-44 lead for the Great Danes with under eight minutes to go. Reid-Knight put in a layup to finally put an end to the run. Albany outscored Maine 17-0 in points off turnovers, and shot an incredible 68 percent from the floor along with 64 percent from the three.

“It’s just unsustainable. Not even close to good enough to have a chance to win,” UMaine coach Bob Walsh said after the game in regards to Albany’s shooting in the second half.

Albany was led by Baker and Singletary who each had 21 points, along with fourth-year forward Sam Rowley who added 17 points. For the Black Bears, Aaron Calixte led the way with 15 points, with 11 from Zarko Valjarevic and 10 from both Shaun Lawton and third-year forward Till Gloger, who also grabbed eight rebounds. The Black Bears were also playing without first-year standout Kevin Little, who had to be away from the team for a family matter.

The Black Bears will be back in action on Tuesday Feb. 3, when they travel to the University of Vermont.

While both the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference and the Golden State Warriors in the West are off to blazing starts, don’t pencil these two into this year’s edition of the NBA Finals. Both these teams have played extremely well this season, each having won 15 straight games at one point. The last two times a team has won 15 straight games, they won the championship. However, these teams have a lot to overcome if they want to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy in June.

If you go back to the start of the 21st century, only teams with a great coach have won the title. Gregg Popovich has won four titles with the San Antonio Spurs, Phil Jackson has five rings with the Los Angeles Lakers and Erik Spoelstra has won two championships with the Miami Heat. While Spoelstra may not be in that “legendary coach” category, nobody can argue with his two championship rings.

This trend doesn’t bode well for the Hawks and Warriors. Golden State has a rookie head coach in Steve Kerr. Even though he’s had a great season, will he be able to make the right decisions in a Game Seven?

In Atlanta, they have Mike Budenholzer, who coached under Gregg Popovich for years, so he knows how to manage late game situations and motivate his players. But he still isn’t in the same category of these championship coaches. The edge in coaching has to go to the Atlanta Hawks.

Home court advantage is another huge factor in the NBA playoffs. Can the Warriors hold off the likes of Memphis, Dallas or San Antonio? Golden State has arguably the best home court advantage in the Association with their college-like atmosphere in the Bay Area.

For the Hawks, they have a much different story. Their fans rarely come out to watch this team play. They have the 22nd highest attendance in the NBA, and there are only 30 teams. They’ve had to come up with “Tinder Night” and other gimmicks just to get fans to come out and see the Eastern Conference leading Hawks. While the seats will probably be filled come May, how much of an advantage will home court really be for Atlanta? The advantage here must go to Golden State.

The final major factor in determining who will go to the Finals is the road these teams must travel through. For Golden State, they will have to deal with any combination of the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and even the Oklahoma City Thunder. This year will probably go down as the toughest playoff bracket in NBA history. You can make a case for any team coming out of the West, so even if the Warriors can attain the number one seed, can they survive? Houston has an elite scorer in James Harden and an elite rim-protector in Dwight Howard. Portland has one of the best closers in the game in Damian Lillard. Dallas has Rajon Rondo and Dirk Nowitzki running the show, with Monta Ellis who can close out games in his own right. The Clippers have Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, the Grizzlies have Marc Gasol and a team that fights until the end. Then there are the defending champion Spurs, who, despite where they are seeded, will perhaps be the favorites once again. And the Thunder have arguably the best duo in the game in Durant and Westbrook.

The West is loaded, and Golden State is no guarantee to win it. The East, however, is a completely different story. The Hawks have big threats in the Cavaliers (if they get it together) and the Bulls. Other than that, the road isn’t difficult. The Wizards and the Raptors, while great stories, aren’t really ready to get to the Finals. The Wizards are too young, and the Raptors don’t have enough playoff experience to truly be contenders. The one thing going against the Hawks is that they don’t have a true superstar. The Bulls have Derrick Rose, Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah. The Cavaliers have Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and of course, LeBron James. LeBron’s team has been to four straight Finals, and that’s no coincidence. The best player in the game tends to be the difference in a close series. Could the Hawks stop Cleveland in a Game Seven? Who can go bucket-for-bucket with James? And the Bulls are elite defensively, so could Atlanta score enough against them to win four out of seven games? On depth alone, the Atlanta Hawks have the edge in this category.

So, while both the Warriors and the Hawks are off to blistering starts this year and appear to be the best teams in the league, neither should be considered shoe-ins. There’s still a lot of basketball left to play.

Wood leads UMaine past Lowell

The University of Maine women’s basketball team played host to the University of Massachusetts Lowell in a 68-54 victory that turned out to be a very special night.

Third-year forward Liz Wood recorded the first triple-double of her career with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Wood led the team in both rebounds and assists, with second-year guard Sigi Koziar the leading scorer for the Black Bears with 14 points.

UMaine, who brought the league’s top-ranked defense into Wednesday night, showed their prowess by forcing UMass-Lowell to 23 turnovers, leading to 26 points. This was the second straight game in which the Black Bears forced 13 steals.

The River Hawks’ offense was led by fourth-year guard Shannon Samuels, who had a game-high 19 points but also committed seven turnovers.

UMaine pulled away at the end of the first half, going on a 21-3 run which spanned over 10 minutes long near the end of the first half.

The Black Bears ended the first frame with a flurry of scoring with back-to-back three-pointers from Koizar and third-year guard Chantel Charles to send UMaine into the half up 36-26. Charles had a strong showing, scoring 10 points with five boards, three steals and three assists.

Both teams opened the second half slowly, with the Black Bears going nearly five minutes without scoring. When they did score, on a pair of free throws from Koizar, the offense came together. Third-year guard Lauren Bodine, who was injured for the beginning of the season, knocked down back-to-back threes to put the game out of reach for Lowell.

The River Hawks fell to 7-9 and 1-3 in conference play.

UMaine outlasts Stony Brook

The Black Bears traveled to take on the Seawolves in a nail-biter on Saturday that culminated in a 58-55 UMaine win.

Koizar scored a game-high 23 points for her fifth straight double-digit scoring game.

The Black Bears dominated Stony Brook in the paint, outscoring the Seawolves 32-14 down low.

It was a close contest throughout, with the largest lead in the first half being five points, the result of a three-pointer from third-year forward Mikeala Gustafsson coming at the 12:48 mark.

The Black Bears came out of the locker room firing, starting the second half with a 9-2 run, five of which from Koizar.

Stony Brook cut the lead down, Wood went on a 7-0 run on her own to give Maine a 41-31 lead with 10 minutes left in the game.

The Seawolves responded with a clutch three pointer from fourth-year forward Sabre Proctor, cutting the lead to just 2 points with 19.3 seconds remaining. Proctor led the Seawolves with a double-double, scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 boards.

After a series of free throws from both squads, the Seawolves ended up with the ball and in need of a desperation three to tie the game and force overtime. The halfcourt heave was no good, sealing the 58-55 victory for the University of Maine, their third consecutive win in America East play. The next time the Black bears will be in action will be on Jan. 19 when they host Binghamton University.