ORONO, Maine --
Paula Gallego poured in a career-high 21 points and added 10 rebounds for her first career double-double to lead Maine in a 65-51 season opening win over La Salle in front of a crowd of 1,507 on Monday afternoon.
Gallego was joined in the double-double category by
Caroline Bornemann who added 12 points and a career-best 14 rebounds while
Sarah Talon hit a career-high five triples to finish with 18 points.
Maine finished the day 10-of-29 from downtown and won the rebounding battle, 40-36. Overall, the Black Bears shot 23-of-55 (41.8) from the floor while holding La Salle to just 20-of-60. Maine assisted on 21 of its 23 made field goals.
The Black Bears came out on fire, opening the first quarter with an 8-for-16 showing from the floor with four triples.
With the game tied at 9-9, Maine closed out the first quarter with an 11-2 run. Gallego and Talon knocked down consecutive triples to push the lead to six. Following a La Salle bucket, Gallego hit another three before Talon, working off a turnover, slashed through the paint for a hoop at the horn.
Maine would lead, 20-11, after one.
The lead pushed to 12, Maine's largest advantage of the first half, when Talon dialed up a three with 7:51 left in the half.
La Salle responded with a 9-2 run, trimming the Maine's lead to five midway through the second.
Maine rebuilt its lead to 10 and entered the half with a 30-23 edge.
Gallego continued to carry the hot hand into the third as she opened the second half scoring with her career-high fourth triple of the afternoon, pushing the lead back out to 10.
The Explorers again responded, this time with a 9-0 run, to cut their deficit to just one with 4:27 left in the third quarter.
Talon stopped the sprint with another triple, which spearheaded a 12-2 run, before another three from the junior at the buzzer gave Maine a 48-38 advantage after three.
La Salle staged one last run, cutting the lead down to six, but it would be as close as it would get.
A 13-6 run by Maine regained a 13 point lead before two free throws from
Asta Blauenfeldt gave the Black Bears their largest lead of the game, 64-48.
The Black Bears cruised down the stretch, moving to 1-0 with a 65-51 victory.
Maine remains home when it hosts Penn on Sunday, Nov. 10 at 11:30 a.m.
-UMaine-
