ORONO, Maine -- After missing the 2024-25 season due to injury, Adrianna Smith returned in a big way as she tallied her 40th career double-double in a 63-62 loss to Saint Joseph's in Maine's season opener on Friday evening.

Down by 12 with four minutes to play, the Black Bears battled back to within one but failed to get over the hump, dropping the opener by one.

Smith finished the night with a game-high 25 points to go along with 13 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks as she hit 10-of-25 from the floor. Asta Blauenfeldt added 16 points while matching a career-high with four triples while Sarah Talon chipped in 10 points. 

Smith's big night moved her into 16th on Maine's all-time scoring list (1,184) and 12th on the school's all-time rebounding list (724).

Six Black Bears made their Maine career debuts, led by Olivia Alvarez's five points, seven rebounds, and four assists.

Maine, which finished the night 23-of-66 (34.8) with eight triples, hit 8-of-16 free throws and featured just four turnovers on opening night.

Smith opened the game with a triple to give the Black Bears one of their two leads of the night. Blauenfeldt sealed the opening quarter with a three of her own, this one coming off one of Saint Joseph's nine turnovers, to tie the game at 12-12 after one.

An 8-0 run by the Hawks midway through the second quarter gave the visitors their largest lead of the first half, 22-14.

Maine was able to trim the lead to four at the break, 24-20, after hitting just 3-of-19 field goal attempts in the second quarter.

Smith entered the break with nine points and nine rebounds through one half of work.

The Black Bears continued chipping away, cutting the lead to three before the Hawks raced back out by eight. 

Maine kept fighting as another triple from Smith was followed by a pull up jumper from outside the paint by Blaunefeldt as Maine once again found itself down by just three.

Saint Joseph's lead would be seven entering the fourth quarter.

The Hawks grabbed their first double-digit lead of the game, 50-40, with 7:51 remaining, and their largest lead of the night at 58-46 just over three minutes later.

With its deficit at eight, Maine put together a 5-0 run book-ended by Smith's driving layup with 24-seconds remaining. The hard bucket brought Maine to within three at 60-57.

The Hawks' lead grew back to four with 16-seconds left. A last second three from Blauenfeldt found the bottom of the net but it was too little, too late as the Hawks escaped with a 63-62 victory.

Maine returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 11 when it visits NC State.

-UMaine-