EAGLE TIMES STAFF
DURHAM, NH — Adrianna Smith posted her 11th double-double of the season to lead the Maine Black Bears to a 78-52 win in the Border Battle at New Hampshire on Thursday evening, Jan. 11.
Smith, who finished 9-of-13 from the floor, led all scorers with a season-high 28 points to go along with 15 rebounds and four assists for her third double-double in her last four outings. Anne Simon added 11 points, running her double-digit scoring streak to 11 in row. Simon also moved past Sigi Koizar and into eighth on Maine’s all-time scoring list with 1,677 career points. Olivia Rockwood knocked down four triples to finish with 12 points.
Maine was dominant on the boards, outrebounding the Wildcats 35-22. The Black Bears are now 10-3 this season when winning the rebounding battle and have conquered the rebound column in each of their first three conference outings. The Black Bears finished the evening 27-55 (49.1) while hitting 15-of-16 from the free throw stripe.
Maine’s defense forced 27 turnovers, turning the mishaps into a 32-17 edge in points off turnovers.
The Black Bears separated themselves from New Hampshire early, closing the first quarter on a 17-2 run powered by three first quarter triples from Rockwood to take a 19-6 lead into the second.
Smith and Simon began the second quarter with back-to-back buckets to run the lead out to 17.
New Hampshire cut the lead back down to 13 before Maine answered with a 7-0 run. Free throws from Smith started the sprint before Sarah Talon’s pull-up jumper off a turnover ran the lead back to 17. Smith converted her next bucket while drawing a foul on the play. The free throw make from Smith gave Maine its largest lead of the first half, 30-10, with 5:11 left in the second quarter.
The Black Bears entered the half with a 36-21 advantage.
The Wildcats were able to chip away in the third, trimming the lead back down to single digits at 46-37 with 2:27 remaining in the quarter.
However, Maine responded strong as it would close out the third on a 9-1 run. Simon’s 3-pointer started things before Smith converted a bucket off a turnover. Simon swiped the ball on the next possession and raced down the court for two before Smith’s jumper at the horn gave Maine a 55-39 advantage moving into the fourth.
The Black Bears opened the fourth on a 9-0 run, making the overall third into fourth quarter stretch an 18-1 pace, to take their largest lead of the game at 64-39.
The lead would not dip below 19 the rest of the way as Maine cruised to its third America East win of the season, 78-52.
The Black Bears return to action on Jan. 18, when they host UMBC at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono.
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