University of Maine
William & Mary
Last Second Three From Gerostergiou Lifts Maine over William & Mary
12/21/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- Christiana Gerostergiou's (Thessaloniki, Greece) 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left in regulation gave the University of Maine women's basketball team (8-4) a 54-51 victory over William & Mary (6-4) on Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena.
The Black Bears featured three scorers in double-figures as Sigi Koizar (Vienna, Austria) paced the attack with 15 points and six assists. Liz Wood (Catlett, Va.) nearly recorded her 11th career double-double as she finished with 14 points and nine rebounds while Anna Heise (Halle, Germany) added 11 points and five boards.
Maine went 22-for-54 (40.7 percent) from the floor and hit 9-of-25 three-point attempts while assisting on 15 of its 22 field goals. The Black Bears improve their record to 8-4, compiling eight non-conference wins for the first time since 1993.
The Black Bears, who never trailed in the first half, got out to a hot start and paired a good rebounding effort with a solid offensive attack throughout much of the first half.
Leading by one, Maine built a 10-point lead on a 9-0 run as it held the Tribe scoreless over a 7:09 margin. Wood knocked one of her two first half 3-pointers to start the run. A pair of layups from Heise and a bucket from Mikaela Gustafsson (Sodertalje, Sweden) extended Maine's lead out to 17-7 with 12:02 left in the half.
William and Mary fought back to cut the lead to six before a 5-0 run from the Black Bears, capped by another 3-pointer from Wood, gave Maine its largest lead of the opening half, 22-11.
The Tribe continued to battle, chipping the lead back down to five before Koizar's three stopped a 6-2 William and Mary sprint.
William and Mary kept the fight up, shrinking the Maine advantage all the way down to three before Koizar's layup with 5-seconds left in the half gave the Black Bears a 28-23 halftime lead.
The Tribe held Maine scoreless over a 5:46 period, using a 12-0 run to take its first lead of the game and extend its advantage out to 39-33 with 10:09 left in the second half.
Maine had an answer as it was able to piece together a 10-2 burst, regaining the lead on a 3-pointer from Gerostergiou with 7:36 on the clock.
The Tribe took a slim lead with a 4-0 run but Maine had another answer, breaking out a 8-1 run to retake a 51-46 lead on a beautiful post move from Wood
William and Mary once again knotted the score as it scored four points in 15-seconds, tying the game at 51-all with 47.7 seconds on the clock.
The Tribe regained possession but stepped on the endline, turning the ball back over to the Black Bears. Maine pushed the ball up the floor and drove the lane before a loose ball found its way to Gerostergiou, via a flip from Wood, who hit the 3-pointer with 1.7 on the clock. A halfcourt shot from the Tribe missed the mark as Maine held on for a 54-51 road win.
Maine opens conference play when it hosts the defending America East champion UAlbany Great Danes live on ESPN3, Jan. 3 at noon.
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