ORONO – The University of Maine women’s basketball team received a game-high and career-high 23 points from senior guard Paula Gallego and 20 more from graduate student forward/guard Caroline Bornemann on the way to an 87-64 victory over Bryant University at the Memorial Gym Saturday afternoon.
UMaine is now 7-8 overall and 2-0 in America East play while Bryant (R.I.) fell to 8-7 and 1-1, respectively.
It was UMaine’s third straight win.
“I was really comfortable on the floor,” said Gallego, who went a sizzling 9-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. “The team has been playing really well with each other the last couple of games. We’ve been finding each other.
“It’s easy to score like that,” added Gallego, who came into the contestaveraging 6.4 points per game. “Playing at home is always great. I feel really confident here and my teammates kept finding me when I was open. It was a real team effort, honestly.”
Gallego also dished out five assists and grabbed three rebounds.
UMaine coach Amy Vachon said she was proud of the team.
“We adjusted really well and took what they were giving us, especially on the offensive end,” said Vachon, whose team shot 62.5 percent from the floor and 60 percent beyond the 3-point arc.
“Defensively, they were really big so we had to change some things up a little bit and we did a good job of that,” added Vachon.
Bryant coach Lynne-Ann Kokoski said their goal was to “take away the 3-point line and make them take tough twos and, obviously, we did neither. Credit to Amy and their game plan.
“They’re obviously a very good basketball team. They run their stuff hard. They knew how to pick on our weaknesses and they did just that today,” Kokoski said.
Bornemann pulled down a game-high nine rebounds despite being just 5-foot-10 and going up against Bryant’s 6-foot-3 Maranda Nyborg and 6-4 Ali Brigham.
But the Black Bears were quicker and used it to get to the basket for easy layups.
“We got to the rim a lot, especially in the fourth quarter,” said Bornemann. “That really helped us.”
UMaine took an 11-point lead into the final period and then outscored Bryant 28-16 to pull away thanks to a 12-for-17 showing from the floor including hitting three of its four 3-point attempts.
UMaine junior point guard and Seattle University transfer Asta Blauenfeldt contributed 13 points, a co-game-high six assists and four rebounds.
Senior guard Sera Hodgson scored 11 points and had two rebounds.
Sophomore forward Caroline Dotsey came off the bench and chipped in with four points, six rebounds and a co-game-high six assists in 16:18 of playing time.
Graduate student guard Olivia Rockwood had four points, three assists and two rebounds.
Graduate student forward Brigham led the Bulldogs with 16 points and three assists. Nyborg, also a graduate student, finished with 10 points, five rebounds and two assists. Sophomore guard Mia Mancini and sophomore forward Martina Boba had 10 points apiece.
Mancini also had four assists, three steals and three rebounds and Boba had three rebounds.
Mimi Rubino had eight points and Nia Scott had a team-high six rebounds and three assists.
UMaine outrebounded the taller Bulldogs 33-25.
UMaine took a 41-25 lead into the intermission after outscoring the Bulldogs 22-9 in the second period.
Gallego, who hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the first period to give UMaine a 19-16 lead, opened the second quarter with a driving layup and then fed Hodgson for a three at the top of the key.
Bornemann’s putback off her own miss and Blauenfeldt’s baseline runner capped a 9-0 run to open the second period.
Mancini’s foul shot ended the surge but the Black Bears responded with seven unanswered points by Bornemann, who scored with a nice lefthanded finish at the basket, hit another bucket in the paint off a Dotsey feed and sank a free throw.
Boba scored Bryant’s first basket of the period with 2:50 to go and Rubino hit a three to cut the lead to 33-23.
But UMaine closed out the half with an 8-2 run on two Blauenfeldt free throws and 3-pointers by Gallego and Rockwood.
Bryant couldn’t get any closer than eight in the second half.
UMaine will hit the road to New York next week, taking on Binghamton on Thursday at 6:07 and Albany on Saturday at 2.
Bryant will next play at Vermont on Thursday at 2.
