University of Maine
Hartford
Women's Basketball Moves to 8-0 at Home Following 61-43 Victory Over Hartford
1/27/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
BANGOR, Maine -- For the ninth time this season, the University of Maine women's basketball team held an opponent under 50 points as it picked up its 15th-straight home victory with a 61-43 win over Hartford on Wednesday evening.
The Black Bears, who moved to 6-1 in conference play and 15-7 overall, outscored Hartford 21-3 off turnovers; forcing 19 Hawks' mishaps. Maine also controlled the paint with a 26-6 point advantage down low. The Black Bears, who finished 24-for-54 from the floor (44.4%), assisted on 19 of their makes; the 14th time this season it has assisted on 15 or more buckets.
Sigi Koizar led Maine with 24 points, 11 of which coming in the third quarter, while adding five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Bella Swan added her seventh double-digit performance of the year with 14 points while Liz Wood filled the stat sheet, totaling eight points, 12 rebounds, five steals and three assists.
The first quarter featured six lead changes and remained tied at 11-11 after 10-minutes of action when Mikaela Gustafsson's layup knotted the game for the third time in the period.
Trailing by a pair midway through the second quarter, Maine broke out a 5-0 run. Liz Wood knocked down her first triple of the game to give the Black Bears a one point edge before Wood worked the ball down low to Swan for a layup, giving Maine a 21-18 lead.
Hartford responded, fighting back to take a three point lead after a 3-pointer from Lindsey Abed.
Koizar took control to close the half on a 7-0 run all by herself, sending the Black Bears into the break with a 28-24 lead.
Maine began to pull away in the third quarter, outscoring the Hawks 19-10 in the period. Swan hit for six-straight points as part of an 8-0 Maine run, extending the lead out to 10 with 4:03 left in the quarter.
Koizar remained hot, hitting two of her game-high four 3-pointers in the final 1:30 of the quarter, elevating Maine's lead to 47-34 after three periods.
After Hartford began the final quarter with a bucket, Maine reeled off 11-straight, taking its largest lead of the game at 59-37 with 3:17 to play.
The Black Bears advantage would not dip below 18 the rest of the way as Maine moved to 8-0 this season at the Cross Insurance Center with a 61-43 victory.
America East action continues for the Black Bears on Saturday when they travel to host Binghamton at 2 p.m.
-UMaine-
