ORONO, Maine – It looked like it was going to be a comfortable win for the University of Maine women’s basketball team in their regular season finale against Binghamton on Saturday afternoon on the Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gym.
But it turned out to be a nail-biter.
The Black Bears built a 23-point lead in the first half and then withstood a furious Binghamton rally that reduced the lead to four late in the game as they went on to earn a hard-fought 74-67 victory on Seniors Day.
UMaine earned the second seed for the America East Tournament with its seventh win in its last eight games, finishing the regular season with a 12-4 league record and an overall mark of 17-12.
Binghamton will be the third seed with its 10-6 league mark and 18-11 overall record.
Binghamton came into the game with seven wins in games in which it had trailed by double-digits.
UMaine will entertain seventh seed New Hampshire in Thursday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal. Binghamton will host the sixth seed which wasn’t going to be determined until Saturday night.
UMaine fifth-year senior forward Adrianna Smith sparked the Black Bears with 21 points, 17 rebounds, six assists and three steals. It was her 17th double-double of the season and seventh in her last eight games.
Senior guard Sarah Talon had 18 points and seven rebounds along with two assists and freshman guard Lala Woods also had 18 points. UMaine’s other senior, guard Asta Blauenfeldt, produced seven points, two rebounds and two assists.
Junior guard Bella Pucci led all scorers with 24 points including a 7-for-10 showing beyond the 3-point arc. She also had five rebounds. Junior forward Kendall Bennett had 19 points and 10 rebounds to go with three assists and senior guard Meghan Casey netted 10 points and also had six assists and two rebounds.
Pucci hit four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the Bearcats within two possessions. Her last one came with 17.9 seconds left to make it 71-67.
But UMaine senior guard Asta Blauenfeldt hit two free throws with 16.1 seconds left and junior guard Emmie Streams stole the ball from Pucci in a double-team eight seconds later and sank a free throw.
Windham’s Talon sank a pair of free throws with 37.1 seconds left to provide UMaine with a 68-61 lead and, after a Pucci three, Woods hit a pair nine seconds later.
Junior Lizzy Gruber from Gardiner replaced Smith after she fouled out and had an important block off a Bennett shot, grabbed the rebound and sank a free throw with 24.2 seconds left to make it 71-64.
UMaine went 8-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.
“We made some free throws and that really helped in the end,” said Woods, who hit back-to-back threes late in the third period around a Bennett basket to give UMaine a 56-43 lead entering the final period.
“To be able to win for the three seniors is great,” said Woods. “They’ve given so much to this program.”
Smith said the win means a lot.
“It’s kind of weird because it’s not our last game here, it’s our last regular season game,” Smith said. “Now every game is win-or-go-home and that’s special.”
She said it was important to secure the second seed because it means they will have the opportunity to host two playoff games instead of one.
“That’s really big. We had our emotions come out really strong,” Smith added. “Binghamton is a great team so, of course, they came back. It’s kind of what happened when we played there but, this time, we were able to keep them down and they never took back the lead. And I think being at the Pit and having all these emotions made a big difference.”
UMaine previously lost to Binghamton in Vestal, New York, 62-57 on Jan. 24.
UMaine head coach Amy Vachon said it didn’t surprise her that Binghamton made a big comeback.
“They’re the number three seed for a reason,” Vachon said. “They weren’t going to die.”
The Black Bears went on a 19-0 run spanning the first and second quarters to build a 35-12 lead and took a 43-25 advantage into the intermission.
”We were playing really well and they weren’t making shots. They really crashed the boards hard in the second half and we had a hard time with that,” Vachon said. “We made some big plays down the stretch and that was really good to see.”
The Black Bears shot 56.3% from the floor in the first half compared to Binghamton’s 28.1% and outrebounded the taller Bearcats 24-14.
UMaine outscored Binghamton 28-6 in the paint and had a 13-2 edge in points off turnovers. The Black Bears also had 12 second-chance points compared to Binghamton’s four.
Smith had 15 points in the first half along with nine rebounds and three assists. She recorded her 1000th career rebound with 1:56 left in the half and became America East’s first player, man or woman,to register 1,000 career points, 1,000 rebounds and 400 assists.
Talon poured in 12 first-half points, going 5-for-6 from the floor, and she also had five rebounds.
Woods had a pair of threes.
Pucci’s nine points led Binghamton and her two threes late in the half gave Binghamton a lifeline.
UMaine shot 50 percent from the floor over the 40 minutes compared to Binghamton’s 37.5 percent. Binghamton shot 44.4 percent beyond the 3-point arc and UMaine shot 40 percent.
UMaine outrebounded Binghamton 38-33 despite being outrebounded 19-14 in the second half.
UMaine outscored Binghamton in the paint 38-22.
