The University of Maine women’s basketball team erased a 14-point first-half deficit, but Bryant University’s Bulldogs rattled off an 11-1 run in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter and never looked back en route to an 82-73 victory.
Bryant’s victory at the Chace Athletic Center in Smithfield, R.I., on Saturday improved to 12-3 overall, 2-0 in America East and 7-1 at home. UMaine fell to 6-9 and 1-1 in the conference. The 82 points was the most allowed by UMaine in an America East game since 2014.
The teams were tied 51-51 after three periods. UMaine fifth-year forward Adrianna Smith opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a jumper off a Sarah Talon pass. Six-foot-three graduate student forward Maranda Nyborg tied it with a layup before junior guard Mia Mancini gave Bryant the lead for good with a traditional three-point play.
Olivia Alvarez’s free throw for UMaine cut the lead to 56-54 but freshman guard Izzy Adams’s hook shot and another Nyborg layup expanded the lead to 60-54. After Talon missed a pair of free throws, Martina Boba’s layup built the lead to eight.
Smith converted inside off a Talon pass but Mancini nailed a three off a Boba pass to make it 65-56 with 5:34 remaining and the Black Bears couldn’t get any closer than seven the rest of the way.
Bryant outrebounded UMaine 11-2 in the fourth quarter including a 5-0 edge on the offensive glass and shot 66.7 percent from the floor compared to UMaine’s 58.3 percent. Bryant made 10 of its 13 free throws in the final 10 minutes while UMaine went 7-for-11.
The Bulldogs put five players into double figures with Mancini’s 19 points leading the way. The 2024-25 Al;-America second team selection also had five assists.
Nyborg and junior forward Nia Scott had 16 points apiece. Nyborg also had five assists and two rebounds and Scott had a game-high 11 rebounds to go with three blocked shots.
Adams had 14 points, six assists, five rebounds and two steals and Boba contributed 11 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Smith’s game-high 27 points paced the Black Bears. She also had five rebounds, five assists and two steals. Talon had 15 points, six rebounds and two assists and senior guard Asta Blauenfeldt chipped in with 14 points, two assists and two steals.
Freshman guard Alvarez had eight points and four steals.
Bryant shot 58.5 percent from the floor, 50 percent beyond the 3-point arc and 75 percent from the foul line. UMaine shot 49.2 from the floor but just 14.3 percent from long distance. They shot 68.4 percent from the foul line. Bryant outrebounded UMaine 34-22.
Both teams will return to action on Thursday at 6. UMaine will entertain the University of Maryland Baltimore County on the Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gym in Orono, while Bryant will visit UMass Lowell.
