WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Ninth-seeded New Hampshire clamped down
defensively and defeated eight-seeded Maine Thursday night at the Chase Family
Arena at the Reich Family Pavilion in the 2010 America East Championship presented
by Newman's Own, 65-50. It was its first conference tournament win in five
years.
The Wildcats (9-21, 3-13 America East Conference) held the Black Bears
(8-21, 4-12 AE) to just 28.1 percent shooting from the field and forced Maine
into a long scoring drought at the start of each half.
With its season on the line, New Hampshire brought out defensive sets
which Maine hadn't seen in the teams' two previous meetings.
"We knew we had nothing to lose in this game," said New Hampshire junior
center Jill McDonald, who tied for a team high with 14 points. "We just gave it our all."
UNH held Maine without a field goal for the first 8:25 of the game,
taking an 11-1 lead in the process.
After an evenly matched remainder of the first half, the Black Bears
went into the break only down eight, but the Wildcats would crank up the
pressure yet again.
New Hampshire went on a 12-2 run to start the second half, extending
its lead to as much as 18, and kept Maine without a bucket for the first 7:34
of the second 20 minutes.
UNH's defensive effort kept the Black Bears from getting into a rhythm
and competing in the game, which they never led.
"Throughout the game, we kept going in and out of spurts of being all
together and being on the same page," said Black Bear sophomore forward
Samantha Wheeler. "That's what really
hurt us in the end."
The Black Bears made a run of their own later in the half, led by junior
guard Tanna Ross' season-high 20 points, but the team couldn't cut the lead to
any less than seven.
Wheeler, who earlier in the day was named third-team All-America East, contributed
12 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double on the year in the
losing effort.
With the win, the Wildcats advance to the quarterfinal round, where
they will face top-seeded host Hartford on Friday at 6 p.m.