University of Maine
Hartford
Hartford Pulls Away from Maine in the Second Half
1/5/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
HARTFORD, Conn. - The Maine women's basketball team (2-12, 0-2) fell to Hartford (5-10, 2-0) 73-41 in their second-straight America East road contest despite three players setting four career highs. The Black Bears trailed by only six at halftime, but the Hawks quickly opened a double figure lead in the second half.
America East Player of the Game, Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del./Concord), recorded her sixth straight double-digit game and led UMaine with 18 points. Roberts tied Kristin Baker and Samantha Wheeler (Derry, N.H./Timberlane Regional) for the most consecutive 10+ point games by a player under head coach Cindy Blodgett and set a new career high for points in the process.
Shareka Maner (Spring Hill, Fla./Nature Coast) led Maine's rebounding efforts with a career-high 8 boards. She started the second half after pulling down seven in the first period. Ali Nalivaika (Worcester, Mass./St. Peter Marian) also chipped in a career-best seven rebounds and 8 points.
Hartford had four players score in double figures and were led by Mary Silvia and Ilicia Mathis. Both had 13 points, while Amanda Weaver added 11 points in her first game back from injury.
The Hawks quickly opened a 10 point lead, 31-21, in the beginning of the second half. Hartford extended their lead to 41-26 with 14:22 to play in the contest. The Hawks kept their lead in double figures for the rest of the second half.
Hartford opened an early 10 point lead and was ahead 25-19 at the break. Roberts led Maine with six points but was limited to 10 minutes because of three early fouls. Maner posted a career-best seven rebounds in the first half and scored two points. Ilicia Mathis powered the Hawks with six points while Mary Silvia added five points.
Roberts scored the first basket of the contest on a layup, but the Hawks quickly took an 8-2 lead early in the first half. Hartford extended their lead to 15-5 before UMaine rallied off an 8-0 run. The Black Bears pulled to within two points on a Maner layup with 3:27 remaining in the half. Maine held the Hawks scoreless for nearly six minutes during that stretch.
The Black Bears return home to face UMBC Sunday at noon in the America East home opener.
