Strong Second Half Effort Propels Women's Hoops Past Central Conn. St.
12/3/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (4-3), who at one point trailed by 17 in the first half, outscored Central Connecticut State (4-3) 48-22 in the second half to take a 72-58 victory on Wednesday evening.
Liz Wood (Catlett, Va.) paced Maine's offensive efforts with 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists while Sigi Koizar (Vienna, Austria) added 21 points and four boards. Sophie Weckstrom (Espoo, Finland) hit five 3-pointers in the second half to total 15 points.
It was a tale of two halves for the offensive efforts as Central Conn. shot 60.9-percent in the first half before Maine came alive and posted a 69.2-percent (18-for-26) effort in the second stanza. For the contest, Maine went 27-fo-46 (58.7-percent) while knocking down 12 of 22 3-point attempts.
The Blue Devils were quick to take an early advantage before Maine's offense began clicking. Anna Heise (Halle, Germany) started a 7-2 Black Bears run to put Maine on top for the first time with 4:01 gone in the opening half.
With Maine leading by a pair, the Blue Devils answered with a 7-0 sprint to take a 15-10 lead with 12:36 remaining on the clock.
Following a layup from Wood, CCSU went on an extended 19-5 run to take its largest lead of the half at 34-17 with 3:40 to play in the half.
The Black Bears were able to tighten the gap down the stretch, closing the half on a 7-2 run as Maine trailed 36-24 at the break.
The Blue Devils went 60.9-percent (14-for-23) from the floor over the opening 20-minutes and 5-for-8 from the free throw line.
Maine came out of the halftime break on fire as it broke out a 16-0 run, coming all the way back to take a 40-36 lead with four minutes gone in the second half. Koizar began the run with five-straight points before an offensive board by Heise led to a three from Weckstrom. Wood's jumper gave Maine 10-straight unanswered before Koizar knocked down another three to give Maine a one-point edge. Weckstrom nailed Maine's fourth 3-pointer in the opening five minutes to put the Black Bears on top 40-36.
The Blue Devils put a stop to the run with a 3-pointer as they would get their first points half at the 14:28 mark.
Maine refused to relinquish its momentum as it answered with a 9-0 run, stretching its advantage to 49-39, 7:49 into the second half.
The second half offensive pressure kept charging for Maine as back-to-back buckets from Wood and Koizar inflated the lead out to 14. A make from the Blue Devils was answered with a 3-pointer by Weckstrom as Maine led 66-51 with 3:31 remaining.
The Black Bears took their largest lead of the contest at the 2:09 point when Weckstrom's fifth 3-pointer extended the lead to 18. Maine held on to take a 72-58 victory for its first road win of the season.
Maine returns to action in the first of a three game home stand as it hosts Harvard on Sunday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m.
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