BANGOR, Maine — When your opponent goes almost 15 minutes between field goals, there’s a good chance you’re going to win the game.
The University of Maine accomplished that feat against Northeastern on Saturday afternoon, using a combination of its 2-3 matchup zone and player-to-player defenses to forge a 60-51 women’s basketball victory at the Cross Insurance Center.
The Black Bears built a commanding, 24-point advantage, then withstood a valiant comeback attempt by the Huskies during the last seven minutes.
“We’d built a big enough lead so that we had enough of a cushion to learn the lesson without losing the game,” said UMaine coach Richard Barron, whose team improved to 7-3 and extended its winning streak to six games.
“It was a good game for us for about 30 minutes, maybe even a little bit more than that, and a really tough stretch there at the end where we did not execute very well on either end of the floor,” he added.
It was too little, too late for Northeastern of the Colonial Athletic Association (2-4), which outscored the Black Bears 30-16 down the stretch but never got closer than seven points.
“They’re fighters. These are good kids, they want to win. I was proud of them for not throwing in the towel,” said first-year Northeastern coach Kelly Cole.
The Black Bears went 8-for-12 from the foul line during the last two minutes to secure the win.
Despite the late defensive lapse, UMaine shot 44 percent for the game and 52 percent (11-for-21) in the second half.
UMaine held the Huskies to 31 percent shooting (15-for-49) as Northeastern missed its first 14 shots of the second half to watch a four-point halftime deficit bulge to 24.
“I feel like in practice already we’re coming together as a team on the defensive end, which is good,” said junior guard Sophie Weckstrom, who made three 3’s on her way to 14 points and added two assists. “I think we did a good job of scouting this game and we stuck to the [game] plan.”
The Bears surged during a span of 4:11 in the second half. Already leading by seven points, Mikaela Gustafsson sandwiched a pair of low-post baskets around Sigi Koizar’s bank-in 3-pointer.
Koizar (15 points, 3 assists, 3 steals) added another 3, then Liz Wood (10 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals) answered a free throw by NU’s Tanisha Hopewell to give UMaine a 37-19 advantage with 11:05 remaining.
The Huskies’ offensive woes continued for another four minutes, during which time the Black Bears churned out a 7-1 run that pushed the lead to 44-20 on Koizar’s loose-ball rebound with 7:04 to play.
“We played incredible defense, especially in the first 10 minutes [of the half] when the other team didn’t even score [a field goal]. That’s pretty impressive,” Barron said, pointing to the fact Northeastern handled UMaine 81-55 a year ago.
Tiffany Montagne kissed a 3-pointer off the glass with 6:47 left, ending a field-goal drought that dated back to her own 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining in the first half.
It seemed to ignite the Huskies, who had begun pressing full court and put on a late charge. Montagne, who finished with a game-high 17 points with five 3-pointers, later hit two more 3’s during the second of two 11-2 bursts as NU closed to within 52-42 with 2:19 left.
The Huskies made eight of 11 shots during one stretch and poured in 33 points over the final 10 minutes.
“The last 10 minutes of defense was not at all what we had done for the first 30 minutes of the game,” Barron said. “Having said that, you have to credit Northeastern with making some of those shots.”
However, UMaine remained patient and rode its free-throw shooting down the stretch.
Anna Heise contributed nine points and six rebounds, and Chantel Charles chipped in with five points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals for the Bears, who outrebounded the Huskies 33-32.
Amencie Mercier tallied 13 points and six rebounds while A’lece Mark and Hopewell added eight points each for Northeastern.
UMaine was without senior guard Courtney Anderson of Green (knee) and junior guard Lauren Bodine (hamstring) because of injuries. As a result, Weckstrom played 40 minutes and Koizar logged 39-plus.
“We wanted to keep Sophie and Sigi in the game because we wanted primary ballhandling options against their quickness,” Barron explained.
UMaine will take Sunday and Monday off from practice heading into final exams week. The Bears then begin preparations for games Dec. 19 against sixth-ranked North Carolina and Dec. 21 at William & Mary.
UMaine’s next home game is its Jan. 3, 2015, America East opener against two-time defending league champion Albany at the Cross Insurance Center.