University of Maine
Troy
Black Bears' Win Over Troy Propels Them Into Dead River Company Classic Championship
11/25/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team used a strong second-half effort to pull away from Troy in the opening round of the 2011 Dead River Company Classic, taking the contest 66-53 and giving the Black Bears a spot in the Championship game for the first time since 2006.
Maine spread the scoring out quite evenly as it had three scorers in double-figures. Brittany Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) paced the Black Bears with 15 points as she was named Maine's America East Player of the Game. Shareka Maner (Spring Hill, Fla.) and Corinne Wellington (Rochester, N.Y.) each chipped in with 10 points. Freshman Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine) also had a strong showing as she dumped in eight points to go along with a team-high eight boards.
After falling behind in the opening minutes 2-0, Knight, making her first collegiate start, would get the Black Bears rolling as she drove baseline and hit a lay-up. Knight would then grab a big defensive board on the other end of the floor and race down the court, finding Samantha Baranowski (Stanhope, N.J.) underneath the basket. Baranowski would settle and finish the play, giving Maine an early 4-2 advantage and forcing Troy to slow the pace with an early timeout.
With the game tied at 6-6, the Black Bears would go on a 8-3 run to gain a 14-9 lead with 7:27 remaining in the opening half. Knight and Courtney Anderson (Greene, Maine) would kick-start the run with back-to-back jumpers before Williams drew a foul and hit a pair from the free throw line. Amber Dillon (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) would cap the run as she forced a steal and sprinted down the court ahead of the pack, laying the ball up and off glass.
The Trojans would get things under control and close within two on a three-pointer by Ieva Nagy with 7:01 to play in the first half. However, Maine would go on a 7-0 run over the next three minutes, capped by a trey by Williams, to extend its lead to nine, 21-12. Troy kept fighting, bringing themselves back within five. With just 10 seconds to play in the half, Maine would race down the court, spreading things out as Anderson pushed the pace and kicked the ball cross-court to Williams who knocked down a three at the buzzer to send the Black Bears into the half leading 27-19.
Troy would keep the game in check for the first five minutes of the second half as the Black Bears would maintain a nine point lead with 4:54 gone in the final half. Maine would start to stretch things out a bit as Maner went on her own 5-0 run to give the Black Bears a 15 point lead. After a layup by Tenia Manuel, Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del.) would find Anderson on the far wing as the freshman buried a three to give Maine its largest lead of the contest, 52-36 with 10:45 remaining.
Over the next three minutes, Troy would tap into the Black Bear lead once again as Manuel's pair of free throws at the 7:17 mark would cut the Maine lead to just six. However, that is the closest the Trojans would get as Wellington's 4-0 run put the Black Bears up once again by double-figures, 60-50. The game would remain right around that margin as Maine would hold on for the 66-53 victory.
The Black Bears will host Brown University in tomorrow afternoon's Dead River Company Championship. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m.
-U-M-
