University of Maine
Stony Brook
Women's Basketball Defeats Stony Brook for 11th-Straight Victory
2/15/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (19-6, 11-1 America East) picked up a tough fought victory over visiting Stony Brook (14-11, 7-5 AE) by a score of 57-49 in Maine's annual Play4Kay Pink Game. The win is Maine's 11th in a row and marks the fifth-straight game where the Black Bears held their opponent under 50 total points.
Sigi Koizar (Vienna, Austria) led all scorers as she poured in 21 points and went 9-for-10 from the free throw line. Liz Wood (Catlett, Va.) recorded her 14th career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Courtney Anderson (Greene, Maine) added 10 points off the bench.
In front of the largest women's basketball crowd ever at Cross Insurance Center (3,454), Black Bear Nation met Coach Richard Barron's challenge as it came together to raise over $12,000 dollars for the Kay Yow Cancer Foundation. True to his word, Barron showed up to the game with pink hair and shaved his head following the victory.
Maine, which trailed by as many as eight at one point, went 19-for-43 from the floor (44.2%) and knocked down 13 of 18 free throw attempts, several coming in clutch situations down the stretch. The Black Bears managed the rebounding situation as it pulled down 34 boards to Stony Brook's 29.
Maine found itself trailing by eight following an 8-0 sprint by the Seawolves midway through the first half.
The Black Bears responded as Anderson and Wood hit a trio of 3-pointers on three-straight Maine possessions. Wood's last three jump started a 7-0 run for the Black Bears, capped on a layup from Koizar to regain a 25-24 edge.
Stony Brook clung to a one-point lead as the seconds ticked down in the first half. Maine's offense setup for a last shot chance and worked the ball around to Koizar who nailed a three from the top of the key in the waning seconds of the half, giving Maine a 30-28 lead at the break.
The Black Bears worked off their first half momentum, carrying the charge into the second half where they started things with a 7-0 sprint to extend the lead out to nine.
Stony Brook continued to fight, cutting the lead all the way down to one on a slashing layup from Kori Bayne-Walker.
Maine was able to build its lead back up to five when Sophie Weckstrom (Espoo, Finland) burnt her defender and cut through the lane for a pair.
Free throw shooting came up big down the stretch for the Black Bears as Koizar and Anderson combined to go 12-for-14 from the stripe in the final two minutes to lock down a 57-49 victory for the Black Bears.
Maine puts its winning streak on the line as it travels to face Vermont on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7 p.m.
-U-M-
