University of Maine
Hartford
Wood Reaches 1,000 Point Plateau in 63-45 Win over Hartford
2/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine -- Liz Wood (Catlett, Va.) became the 18th player in University of Maine women's basketball history to record 1,000 points as she helped lead the Black Bears to their ninth-straight win, defeating Hartford 63-45 on Sunday afternoon in front of 3,287 fans.
Sophie Weckstrom (Espoo, Finland) led all scorers as she notched 17 points with five 3-pointers. Sigi Koizar (Vienna, Austria) chipped in 13 points with Wood finished with 11 and six assists. Wood became just the seventh Black Bear to reach the 1,000 point plateau in only her third season.
The crowd of 3,287 fans was the largest crowd ever at Cross Insurance Center for a Black Bears' basketball game and UMaine's biggest crowd since 3,717 took in action against Duke at Alfond Arena on Dec. 21, 2009. Maine's victory at home over Hartford was its first on its home turf since 2004.
The Black Bears, who improved to 17-6 and 9-1 in America East action, continued their high mark from the floor as the team finished 24-for-48 (50.0 percent), including an 8-for-19 showing from beyond the arc, and hit seven of eight free throws attempts. Maine controlled the boards with a 32-28 advantage while outscoring the Hawks 22-8 in the paint.
Wood tallied the game's first points as her 3-pointer began an 11-0 opening run for the Black Bears and also gave the junior forward 1,000 points for her career. La'Trice Hall broke Hartford's scoring drought with a jumper at the 15:45 mark but Weckstrom had a quick answer, hitting the second of her five 3-pointers.
Amber Bepko's 3-pointer cut Maine's lead down to six with 6:03 to play in the half but the Black Bears finished out the first stanza sharp as they broke out a 6-0 run, capped by a jumper from Weckstrom with 19-seconds remaining, to take a 29-17 lead into the break.
Maine's defense limited Hartford to just a 28.0 percent showing from the floor in the opening half as the Hawks went 7-for-25 with nine turnovers in the opening 20-minutes.
The Black Bears kept the pressure on early in the second half as an 8-0 run extended Maine's lead out to 20 in the early going.
Hartford continued to fight as it pieced together an 11-2 run, keyed on a pair of 3-pointers from Morgan Lumb, to bring the Maine lead back down to 11 with 13:31 remaining.
Weckstrom put an end to the run with another 3-pointer as Maine kept charging, putting together a 12-2 run of its own capped on another three from Weckstrom to give the Black Bears a 21-point edge.
Maine grabbed its largest lead of the game as it led 58-35 after Weckstrom's fifth 3-pointer of the game again added to the Black Bears' advantage with 5:21 left to play.
The Black Bears' lead would never dip below 18 over the final five minutes as Maine was able to grab its ninth-straight win, 63-45.
Maine continues America East action when it looks to make it 10-straight with a contest at UMass Lowell on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.
-U-M-
