The University of Maine women’s basketball team’s road woes continued on Saturday afternoon as the University of Maryland Baltimore County beat the defending America East champions 71-53 in Baltimore.
UMBC graduate student guard-forward Jordon Lewis scored 17 points to lead a balanced attack featuring four players in double figures. Retrievers improved to 12-10 overall and 5-5 in America East while the Black Bears fell to 12-12 and 7-4.
It was UMBC’s fourth straight win and fifth in six games. UMaine is now 2-4 in conference road games.
The Retrievers used an 11-4 run to close out the third period and expand a three-point lead into a 49-39 advantage.
The Retrievers hit four of their field goal attempts during the run while the Black Bears went ice cold, going just 1-for-8.
They followed that up with a 9-3 spurt to open the fourth quarter and build a comfortable 16-point lead.
UMBC continued its torrid shooting by going 3-for-5 from the floor during that span while the Black Bears’ shooting difficulties continued to the tune of a 1-for-7 showing.
Lewis had five rebounds, four assists and two steals to go with her 17 points. Redshirt sophomore guard Tiara Bellamy contributed 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and two assists. Graduate student forward Talia Davis chipped in with 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds and graduate student forward Jaden Walker netted 10 points, four rebounds and two assists.
Graduate student guard Jaliena Sanchez had nine points and two assists.
Lewis (La Salle), Bellamy (Saint Peter’s), Davis (North Carolina A & T), Walker (Saint Joseph’s) and Sanchez (UMass Lowell) are all transfer students.
Graduate student forward-guard Caroline Bornemann paced UMaine with a game-high 21 points to go with five rebounds. It was her fifth game with 20 or more points including two in a row.
Senior guard Paula Gallego tallied 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Sophomore forward Caroline Dotsey had nine points; junior guard and Seattle University transfer Asta Blauenfeldt had five points, four rebounds and two steals; and graduate student guard Olivia Rockwood had seven rebounds and three assists along with a free throw.
Bornemann shot 7-for-15 from the floor (46.7 percent), but the rest of the team managed just a 28.6 percent performance (10-for-35).
As a team, UMaine shot 7-for-14 from the floor in the first period but just 10-for-36 (27.8) the rest of the way.
UMBC finished shooting 48.9 percent from the floor including an 18-for-35 showing over the final three periods (51.4 percent).
UMBC outscored UMaine 34-16 in the paint and had 12 fast break points while UMaine didn’t have one.
UMaine will play again at 4 p.m. Saturday in Vermont while UMBC travels to Binghamton for a 6:07 p.m. tipoff on Thursday.
