University of Maine
UMass Lowell
Wood Tallies Triple-Double as Women's Hoops Takes Down UMass Lowell, 68-54
1/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine -- Liz Wood (Catlett, Va.) posted her first career triple-double as the junior led Maine's offensive attack with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists to help propel the Black Bears over UMass Lowell by a score of 68-54 on Wednesday evening. Maine climbs to 10-6 on the year and 2-1 in the America East while UMass Lowell drops to 7-9, 1-3 in league play.
Maine's league-leading defense continued to shine as it forced 23 UMass Lowell turnovers, swiping 13 steals for the second-game in a row, and turning the 23 River Hawk mishaps into 26 points.
Sigi Koizar (Vienna, Austria) was Maine's high scorer as she posted 14 points. For Koizar, it was her third-straight game hitting the double-figure plateau her the 13th time she's reached the mark this season. Mikaela Gustafsson (Sodertalje, Sweden) added 11 points while Chantel Charles (London, UK) added a season-high 10.
Following back and forth action early, UMass Lowell went on an 8-2 run to take a 14-9 lead with just over 12 minutes remaining in the half. A Wood layup fed by Lauren Bodine (Louisville, Ky.) broke the trend and started the Black Bear resurgence.
Wood's bucket started a 21-3 run that spanned well over 10 minutes as the Black Bears took hold of the game, pushing its lead out to 30-17. The run was snapped at the 5:21 mark of the frame as Shannon Samuels drained a trey to make it 23-14.
UMass Lowell began to mount a come back in the final minutes as Brianna Rudolph and Shannon Samuels combined for six points to cut the deficit to four, capped by a Samuels free throw make.
Maine pushed the lead back out to 10 before half when Charles capped the half hitting a deep 3-pointer with 1.2 seconds remaining to send the Black Bears into the break up 36-26.
The River Hawks mounted a comeback to start the second half, cutting the lead to five thanks to a 5-0 run in the first three minutes to make it 36-30.
A three from Lauren Bodine, which looked as if it were going to rim out, took a fortuitous second bounce and gave Black Bears a 15 point lead with 9:10 left in the contest as Maine led 49-34.
A pair free throws from Charles gave Maine its largest lead of the game as it led by 19, 55-36 with 6:29 remaining the half.
Maine's lead never sank below 15 the rest of the way but a little history would be made in the closing minutes. Freshman Parise Rossignol's (Van Buren, Maine) 3-pointer off a feed from Wood gave Wood her first career triple-double with just 1:08 remaining in regulation.
The Black Bears held on to the victory, defeating UMass Lowell 68-54 for their second-straight league victory.
Maine continues America East action on the road when it travels to take on Stony Brook on Saturday at live on ESPN3.
-U-M-
