Black Bears Return Home From a Six-Game Road Trip to Face UMass
12/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
ORONO, Maine - The Maine women's basketball team (1-10) returns home for their only home game in the month of December and final non-conference game. They will play host to UMass (3-9) on December 29th at Alfond Arena.
The Black Bears are coming off a pair of heartbreaking defeats in the final minute at the Hatter Classic. UMaine dropped to 1-10 on the season after falling to Winthrop 54-51 and to Stetson 76-70 in Deland, Fla.
Maine battled back from a nine-point halftime deficit and pulled to within three of Winthrop in the final seconds but fell 54-51. Tanna Ross (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy) took a three on the final shot of the game, but it hit off the rim and bounced away. The Black Bears outscored the Eagles 32-26 in the second half and shot 40% from the field.
Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del./Concord) led Maine with a career-high 16 points in 33 minutes of action, while Katelyn Vanderhoff (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) added 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Roberts scored her previous high of 12 points at Bryant. Vanderhoff played all 40 minutes for the first time since at Stony Brook last season.
Maine was in it until the end against Stetson, trailing by only three points with 25 seconds remaining. Led by Ashleigh Roberts' career-high 17 points, five Black Bears scored in double figures for the first time since at Boston U. last season, while two more posted double-doubles. Roberts was named to the Hatter Classic All-Tournament Team after setting a career high in points in both games.
Roberts scored in double figures for the third-straight game and the fifth time this season, while Corinne Wellington (Rochester, N.Y./Wilson Magnet) posted her third career double-double and the second of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Katelyn Vanderhoff notched her first ever double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Amber Smith (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich) and Tanna Ross rounded out the Black Bears' double-figure scoring. Smith scored 12 points and tallied seven rebounds, while Ross added 11 points and seven boards.
UMaine out-rebounded Stetson 46-41 and held the reigning A-Sun Player of the Week, Natasha Graboski, to eight points and four rebounds. Graboski scored 26 points and pulled down 11 boards in the Hatters' first game of the classic against Youngstown State. Maine out-rebounded an opponent for the third time this season and tallied a season high with those 46 boards.
Maine is 12-6 all-time against UMass and has won two straight games against the Minutewomen. The Black Bears won 65-49 last season, capping off their first back-to-back wins since the 2006-07 season.
UMass is 3-9 after winning two straight games at home. The Minutewomen have wins over Brown, Wagner and Miami (Ohio) this season but have dropped games to America East squads Boston U. and Binghamton. UMass has four players scoring in double figures this season. Megan Zullo leads the team with 13.0 points and 4.8 assists per game. The Minutewomen are coached by former Vermont head coach Sharon Dawley, who is in her first season in Amherst.
For fans who cannot make it to the games, Don Shields will provide radio play-by-play on the Black Bear Sports Network starting 30 minutes prior to tip-off of the game. The games can be heard on either WAEI-FM 97.1, WAEI 910 AM or GoBlackBears.com, while live stats and video will be available on GoBlackBears.com(.)
