ORONO, Maine — Junior point guard Asta Blauenfeldt poured in a game-high 22 points and the University of Maine’s women’s basketball team erupted for 27 fourth-quarter points to beat the New Jersey Institute of Technology 65-51 in their America East quarterfinal at the Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gym on Thursday night.
The Seattle University transfer Blauenfeldt had nine rebounds, two assists and two steals to go with her 22 points.
Fourth seed UMaine improved to 15-15 while fifth seed NJIT wound up 11-19.
UMaine will travel to take on top seed Albany, 26-5, in Monday’s semifinal.
UMaine led by just three after three periods but outscored the Highlanders 27-16 in the final quarter as the Black Bears shot 10-for-16 from the floor and 3-for-5 behind the 3-point arc.
NJIT shot 7-for-10 and 2-4 in the fourth quarter but turned the ball over six times.
“We thought we had a real good chance going into the fourth quarter,” said NJIT coach Mike Lane. “But we didn’t have great possessions to start the fourth stanza and it was too much.”
UMaine All-America East selection Caroline Bornemann had 15 points, seven assists and five rebounds along with two steals. Senior guard Sera Hodgson scored 11 points and sophomore forward and league Sixth Player of the Year Caroline Dotsey had six points and five rebounds.
“We hadn’t been doing what we were supposed to be doing in the third quarter but we got back to it in the fourth quarter. We followed our principles,” said graduate student center Bornemann.
Senior guard and All-America East third teamer Paula Gallego had five points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Junior guard Sarah Talon had four rebounds and four assists to go with a 3-pointer.
Blauenfeldt, who shot 9-for-14 from the floor and 3-4 from long distance, credited her teammates for setting her up.
“My teammates were feeding me the ball in good situations. They were reading the defense and getting me the ball in the best spots for me to score,” said Blauenfeldt.
“She had a wonderful night,” said Lane.
Junior guard and first team All-America East selection Alejandra Zuniga led NJIT with 14 points but seven came after UMaine had built a double-digit lead in the fourth quarter. Zuniga had averaged 23 points in two regular season games against UMaine.
“We had some great defensive possessions in the fourth quarter. We took it down to the end of the shot clock but they had a lot of kids step up and make shots that they hadn’t hit earlier in the evening,” added Lane, who was proud of his NJIT team and its fight.
Zuniga also had five rebounds and four assists.
“She’s a great player. She has killed us every time she plays us,” said Vachon. “Sera Hodgson had her a lot but it was a whole team effort. We tried to plug the gaps and when she got to the rim, we [stressed] not to foul.”
Zuniga wound up shooting 6-for-16 from the floor and just 1-4 from long distance.
America East Rookie of the Year Olivia Kulyk had 12 points, three rebounds and two assists for NJIT. Graduate student guard Enya Maguire had nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.
Sophomore guard Marissa Gingrich and senior forward Trinity Williams each had eight points and five rebounds and Gingrich also had four assists.
Williams is an All-America East Defensive Team choice.
The Black Bears opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer by Talon off a Bornemann pass. Those were Talon’s only points of the night.
Following an offensive foul on NJIT, Bornemann scored with an inside move.
After a missed 3-pointer by NJIT, the speedy Blauenfeldt grabbed the rebound and raced the length of the court before laying the ball in to make it 45-35.
Williams scored in the paint for NJIT but Blauenfeldt answered with a traditional 3-point play when she was fouled making a layup.
NJIT couldn’t get any closer than nine the rest of the way.
A Bornemann layup made it 55-43 and Paula Gallego then ripped the ball out the hands of an NJIT player and hit a six-foot jump shot to all but sew up the win with 3:36 to go.
Blauenfeldt had 13 of her points in the first half as the Black Bears took a 31-23 lead into the intermission.
The Black Bears led by as many as 11 early in the second period but Kulyk scored six unanswered points to cut the lead to five before Blauenfeldt hit a three.
The teams swapped points the rest of the way with Gingrich’s last-second jumper bouncing around the rim before dropping through the basket for the Highlanders.
Vachon said Blauenfeldt led the way with a superb performance and lauded Bornemann for finding open teammates for her seven assists.
Vachon noted that NJIT heavily guarded Bornemann, which opened things up for her teammates.
