Burlington, Vt. -- The University of Maine women's basketball team outscored Vermont 18-8 in the fourth quarter, including ending the game on a 15-1 run, to earn a 64-58 victory over the Catamounts in their America East opener.
The win, Maine's ninth in a row over Vermont, gives the Black Bears a 1-0 start to the league schedule for the fifth consecutive season.
Maine, which trailed by eight early in the fourth, was able to put together a 12-0 run to capture a lead it would not relinquish.
The Black Bears produced a balance scoring attack, led by three players in double-figures. For the second consecutive game,
Caroline Bornemann posted a career-high scoring effort as the sophomore led the way with 16 points.
Anne Simon added 12 points and six rebounds while
Maeve Carroll chipped in 11 points and six boards.
Neither team would lead by more than six through the game's opening half as Maine and Vermont battled to four ties and three lead changes over the first 20 minutes of action.
Trailing by four midway through the first, Maine was able to rally to an 8-0 run.
Alba Orois maneuvered the offense, setting up Carroll down low for two before finding
Paula Gallego cutting along the baseline for a bucket as the Black Bears took their largest lead of the half, 14-10.
The Catamounts had the answer as the hosts closed out the first quarter with five unanswered points before building the run to 10-0 with five more to start the second. Josie Larkins' triple completed the sprint as Vermont grabbed its largest lead of the half, 20-14, with 7:38 remaining in the second quarter.
Maine was able to trim the deficit to one but would enter the break trailing, 31-27.
A 7-2 run from Maine in the third quarter, with five points coming from Gallego, drew the Black Bears within one in the third quarter. However, Maine was unable to get over the hump in the period.
Vermont staged a 7-2 run of its own early in the fourth, giving the Catamounts their largest lead of the night, 57-49, with 7:14 remaining in regulation.
There was no quit in the Black Bears. Working out of a timeout, trailing by eight, the Black Bears went to work. A bucket from Carroll started a 15-1 Maine run as a triple from Simon cut the lead to three. Bornemann's triple tied things at 57-57 before Simon's pull-up jumper gave Maine its first lead since the first quarter. The run continued with a bucket from Orois as Maine's lead grew to four, 61-57, with three minutes remaining. Another big triple from Bornemann pushed the lead out to 64-58, a lead that would stand as the Black Bears earned the victory in the conference opener.
-UMaine-
