ORONO, Maine — As expected, points were hard to come by during Saturday afternoon’s important America East women’s basketball game between defense-minded contenders the University of Maine and Vermont at the Memorial Gym.
UMaine’s Black Bears, who have held opponents to just 50.8 points per game in their four previous contests, limited the Catamounts to just three fourth-quarter points to grind out a 45-39 victory in a rematch of last year’s America East championship game won by the Black Bears.
It was UMaine’s fifth straight win and improved the Black Bears’ record to 12-10 overall and 7-2 in the conference. UMaine has won its last 19 home games against conference opponents.
Vermont, whose defense has been 17th best in the country among 353 Division I programs, had its seven-game winning streak snapped. The Catamounts fell to 12-11 and 7-2, respectively.
Junior point guard and Seattle University transfer Asta Blauenfeldt and junior guard Sarah Talon each had 11 points and three steals to pace the Black Bears. Talon also had two assists and two rebounds.
Sophomore forward Caroline Dotsey came off the bench and supplied UMaine with nine points, three rebounds and two assists. Senior guard Paula Gallego had seven points, nine rebounds and three assists and graduate student guard-forward Caroline Bornemann produced six points, a game-high 12 rebounds and two assists.
Vermont redshirt junior guard Catherine Gilwee led all scorers with 12 points. She also had two assists. Sophomore center Nikola Priede netted 11 points, six rebounds and four assists and senior guard Bella Vito finished with eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Two-time All-America East forward Anna Olson, Vermont’s leading scorer entering the game with a 13.8 points per game average, was held to six points but grabbed 11 rebounds.
“I’m really proud of our team,” said UMaine coach Amy Vachon. “Defensively, we really wanted to make it hard for Olson and we did that.”
Olson went just 3-for-10 from the floor and had a game-high six turnovers including an offensive foul with 17 seconds left as she backed in too aggressively on Bornemann along the baseline under the basket.
Two seconds later, Bornemann was fouled and she sank both to all but sew up the victory. She said their defense was a key to the win.
“They have really good players but we executed our defensive plans pretty well most of the time. It definitely helped us win this game,” Bornemann said.
UMaine took a 37-36 lead into the fourth quarter and Blauenfeldt opened the scoring with a layup. Gallego made it 41-36 with a layup off a Dotsey feel and Blauenfeldt made a steal and went the length of the court for another layup to expand the lead to seven.
Priede’s free throw ended UMaine’s 6-0 run and then she scored inside off a Sarah Ericson pass to close the gap to 43-39 with 3:42 remaining.
But the Catamounts never scored again and Bornemann’s foul shots closed out the scoring.
Vermont went 1-for-12 from the floor in the fourth period, including 0-for-6 from beyond the 3-point arc, and turned the ball over four times.
“We had some of our best looks in the fourth quarter, layups rolling out and open threes for our shooters,” Catamounts coach Alisa Kresge said. “They have to find a way to hit those in stressful games.”
UMaine went 11-for-14 from the foul line compared with Vermont’s 3-for-4. The Black Bears shot 36.4 percent from the floor and 20 percent from beyond the 3-point arc compared to UVM’s 24.7 percent and 20 percent, respectively.
UMaine outscored Vermont 28-16 in the paint and outrebounded the Catamounts 33-29.
The Black Bears will play their next three games on the road beginning with a Thursday game at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Tip off is at 6 p.m., while Vermont hosts America East-leading Albany on Saturday at 2 p.m.
