Jan. 5, 2010
Box Score
ORONO, Maine - The Boston University women's basketball team opened its conference schedule on the right note, downing Maine 71-65 Tuesday night at Alfond Arena. The win puts the Terriers at 5-8 on the season and 1-0 in conference action while Maine slips to 4-9 on the year and 0-1 in America East play.
After facing a sizeable deficit for the majority of the game, the Black Bears scrapped their way back through the final minutes, stringing together an 11-3 run over a six-minute span to bring the score to 65-63 with one minute to play. Chantell Alford missed a jumper on the next possession, but a key offensive rebound and ensuing jumper by Aly Hinton gave the hosts a 67-63 lead that they would not relinquish. Four free throws by Alford in the closing seconds sealed the 71-65 win for the Terriers.
Alford led all scorers with a career-high 26 points and added career-best marks of four three-pointers, seven steals and matched a career best with six made free throws. Hinton turned in a 4-of-5 performance from beyond the arc for 15 points and a game-high tying nine rebounds while Alex Young rounded out BU's double-digit scorers with 12 on the afternoon. Caitlynn Moran chipped in six points to go along with her six boards and team-best seven assists. The Terriers drained 12 three-pointers in the win, eclipsing their previous season high of 10 against UMass on Nov. 15.
The Black Bears had five players notch double-figure point totals as Samantha Wheeler (16), Kristin Baker (12), Corinne Wellington (10), Amanda Tewksbury (10) and Katia Bratishko (10) fronted a balanced scoring attack. Wheeler added nine boards for Maine and Baker had a game-high eight steals.
The Black Bears started the game with a pair of quick jumpers to take a 4-0 lead, but the guests answered back with an 8-0 run thanks to a pair threes from Caroline Stewart and Moran and a jumper from Alford. Young and Hinton struck from downtown before the midway point of the first half, giving the Terriers a 16-12 edge at the 11:57 mark.
Alford and Kristen Sims joined the three-parade to extend the Terrier lead to 22-18 and two more treys from Alford and Hinton pushed the BU lead to 28-20 with five minutes to go in the first. Wheeler kept the Black Bears within striking distance with 10 first half points, but a quartet of free throws from Young and one final trey from Alford gave the Terriers a 38-30 lead at the break.
Six different Terriers drained three-balls in the first half, combining for nine in the first stanza while committing just five fouls. While BU held Maine to just 24 shot attempts through the first half, the hosts converted 13 shots for a shot percentage of 54.2% through the opening 20 minutes.
The Black Bears opened the second half with a quick 5-0 run to close the gap to 30-25, but Alford nailed her fourth trey of the game and Young converted a three-point play to give the Terriers their biggest lead of the evening at 49-36, four minutes into the second stanza.
Alford laid in two more but the Black Bears stayed close thanks to a pair of jumpers from Bratishko, a pair from Wheeler and free throws from Tewksbury to get within four at 53-49. Hinton answered with a pair of three-pointers and converted the front end of a Black Bear technical foul to give BU a 62-52 lead with 7:44 remaining in the game.
The Terriers are back in action on Thursday, Jan. 7 as they travel to Binghamton, N.Y. to take on the Bearcats in a 7 p.m. showdown.
