University of Maine
Hartford
Late Surge Comes Up Short at Hartford as Maine Falls 64-52
1/19/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Black Bears made a late run, outscoring Hartford 14-4 in the final three minutes, but ran out of time as the Hawks took the America East contest 64-52 on Thursday evening at Chase Arena. The win moves Hartford to 11-9 and 2-4 in the conference while the Black Bears fall to 4-15, 1-5 in league play.
Samantha Baranowski (Stanhope, N.J.) set a new career-high in scoring for the second game in a row as the senior forward tallied a game-high 19 points with six rebounds, earning her Maine's America East Player of the Game nod. Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del.) tallied double-figures for the fourth game in a row as she chipped in 15 points off the bench for the Black Bears.
Nikkia Smith and Daphne Elliott each netted 15 points to lead the Hawks' attack.
Hartford established its inside game early as it used a 13-2 run, with all its baskets scored from inside the paint, to take a 19-6 lead with 8:03 to play in the opening half.
The Black Bears answered with a 4-0 run of their own on four straight free throws, two by Roberts and one a piece by Baranowski and Rebecca Knight (Alfred, Maine) to bring the Hawks' lead to single digits, 19-10.
After Hartford extended its lead to 14 on five points by Elliott, Maine responded with a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 10. The run started when Baranowski gathered the ball at the top of the key and found Knight on a nice backdoor cut which Knight finished with a reverse layup. Baranowski followed the Knight layup with a jumper of her own to bring Maine within 10.
Hartford held Maine to just four more points for the remainder of the first half while stretching its lead to 31-18 at the half.
Baranowski led the Maine offense in the first half with six points and a pair of rebounds while Roberts chipped in five points, all free throws, off the bench. Danielle Walczak (Lee, N.H.) tallied a first half game-high six rebounds to go along with four points while the team went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the opening half.
The Hawks took a 44-25 lead with 12:08 to play but Maine kept battling, cutting the lead back to 14 with a 5-0 run. Roberts kick started the run with a nice dribble drive up and off glass before Courtney Anderson (Greene, Maine) forced a steal on the other end and quickly outletted the ball to Roberts who was out ahead of the pack and was able to convert the fastbreak layup. A Baranowski free throw ended the run for Maine.
Hartford answered with an 8-0 run on four points by Cherelle Moore to take a 22 point lead with 7:36 remaining in the second half.
Maine would not quit as it staged an 8-0 streak over the next 2:10 to cut the Hawks' lead to 14. Walczak and Roberts hit back-to-back layups before Corinne Wellington (Rochester, N.Y.) got in the scorebook on a turn around jumper. Baranowski completed the Maine run with an offensive tip in with one second left on the shot clock to inch Maine closer to the Hartford lead.
The Hawks pulled ahead by 20 once again with 3:29 to play before the Black Bears answered, ending the game on a 14-4 run but running out of time as Hartford took the America East contest, 64-52.
The Black Bears continue their road trip as they travel to battle Stony Brook on Saturday at 2 p.m.
-U-M-
