ORONO, Maine – Courtney Anderson scored 10 points to lead the 11 Black Bears that made their way into the scoring column during Maine's 73-37 win over Maine Maritime Academy on Tuesday night at The Pit. Maine (3-3) got five or more points from eight different players to grind down the Mariners (2-2) in the wire-to-wire win.
Anderson went 3-of-4 from the field, including a pair of backbreaking treys in the first half, and was 2-for-2 at the line. She also posted four rebounds and a pair of assists. Shakera Maner and Samantha Baranowski each chipped in nine points to the Maine cause, while Rebecca Knight came up with eight points. Maner pulled down five boards to lead the Black Bears. Baranowski's nine points came off of a bench that supplied 51 of the team's points.
The Mariners were still hanging around seven minutes in, trailing 7-6 after Alexis Bennett (Freedom, Maine) banged home jumpers on consecutive trips, but Anderson answered the second shot with a trey that sparked an 8-0 run over 4:15. It was Bennett that temporarily stopped the bleeding to make it 15-8 midway through the first period. She led all scorers with 13 points on a 6-of-10 effort from the floor. It is the third time in four games this season that she scored in double figures.
Neither team could find the bucket over the next four minutes until Samantha Wheeler hit from the line to ignite another Maine run. Wheeler posted seven points on the night, going 5-of-6 at the charity stripe. Maine cashed in on 19-of-28 at the stripe, while the Mariners hit on 14-of-19 free throws. MMA was only afforded two trips to the line in the first half.
Following Wheelers' free throw, the Black Bears tacked on nine more points before Courtney Dufour (Augusta, Maine) answered with a three to end a six-minute drought, making it a 25-12 game with 3:02 left in the half.
Crystal Clark (Chelsea, Maine) and Baranowski traded free throws before Anderson dropped another three with just seven seconds left in the first to make it 29-12 going into the locker room. The Mariners never got closer for the remainder of the game.
Maine Maritime's defense limited the Black Bears to a 9-of-25 (36.0%) effort in the first half and owned a 20-17 edge in rebounds over the first 20 minutes, but surrendered 16 points on 15 turnovers and only clicked on 5-of-22 field goals. That effort only improved marginally in the second half when MMA went 6-of-19.
The teams finished the game even in rebounds with 34 apiece. Sam Goda (Eliot, Maine) led all players with nine boards, while Bekah Campbell (Corinth, Maine) pulled down five. Campbell, Clark, and Goda each blocked a shot.
The Mariners return to action on Saturday at Husson University for the start of North Atlantic Conference play.
MAINE 73, MAINE MARITIME 37
MAINE MARITIME (2-2)
Alexis Bennett 6-10 1-3 13; Sam Goda 2-9 3-4 7; Maggie Smith 0-7 4-4 4; Courtney Dufour 1-2 0-0 3; Crystal Clark 1-4 1-2 3; Bekah Campbell 0-4 2-2 2; Andi Flannery 0-1 2-2 2; Alyssa Severance 1-1 0-0 2; Jillian Perron 0-0 1-2 1; Casey Everest 0-0 0-0 0; Sydney Robertson 0-0 0-0 0; Kari Jones 0-0 0-0 0; Jill Lavallee 0-1 0-0 0; Kayley Rodriguez 0-0 0-0 0; Brittany Gallagher 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 11-41 14-19 37.
MAINE (3-3)
Anderson, Courtney 3-4 2-2 10; Maner, Shareka 3-4 3-4 9; Baranowski, Samantha 2-6 5-8 9; Knight, Rebecca 4-6 0-0 8; Wheeler, Samantha 1-2 5-6 7; Walczak, Danielle 2-3 3-5 7; Mattice, Kelsey 2-7 0-0 6; Roberts, Ashleigh 2-6 1-2 5; Dillon, Amber 2-4 0-0 4; Wellington, Corinne 2-2 0-1 4; Smith, Amber 2-4 0-0 4; Williams, Brittany 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 19-28 73.
Maine Maritime................ 12 25 - 37
Maine......................... 29 44 - 73
3-point goals--Maine Maritime 1-9 (Courtney Dufour 1-2; Maggie Smith 0-4; Crystal Clark 0-1; Jill Lavallee 0-1; Alexis Bennett 0-1), Maine 4-11 (Anderson, Courtney 2-2; Mattice, Kelsey 2-4; Roberts, Ashleigh 0-1; Williams, Brittany 0-4).
Fouled out--Maine Maritime-None, Maine-None.
Rebounds--Maine Maritime 34 (Sam Goda 9), Maine 34 (Roberts, Ashleigh 7).
Assists--Maine Maritime 5 (Alexis Bennett 2; Courtney Dufour 2), Maine 17 (Mattice, Kelsey 3; Roberts, Ashleigh 3; Walczak, Danielle 3; Maner, Shareka 3).
Total fouls--Maine Maritime 19, Maine 19.
Technical fouls—Maine Maritime-None, Maine-None.
A-1169