ORONO, Maine — Princeton University had to work a lot harder for Friday night’s 65-51 win over the University of Maine’s women’s basketball team than it did a year ago when they pummeled the Black Bears in New Jersey.
But the 4-2 Tigers showed why they have made nine NCAA Tournament appearances since 2010 by rattling off a 13-2 run spanning the third and fourth quarters to earn the hard-fought victory.
Junior guard Kaitlyn Chen, the Most Outstanding Player in the Ivy League Tournament last year, had 15 points, five assists, five rebounds and two steals for Princeton. Julia Cunningham, a first team All-Ivy choice last year, had 13 points and four assists and Grace Stone had 10 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Adrianna Smith’s 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists paced 3-5 UMaine. Caroline Bornemann had nine points and five rebounds, Paula Gallego had eight points, two assists and two steals and Sarah Talon finished with eight points two assists and two steals.
Princeton scored the final eight points of the third period before Julia Cunningham’s lefthanded runner to open the fourth period made it 47-35.
During the 10-0 run, the Black Bears turned the ball over four times and missed their four field goal attempts. Windham freshman Sarah Talon’s layup off an Adrianna Smith ended UMaine’s scoreless drought that spanned 6:52.
Princeton built a 54-39 lead with six minutes remaining, but the Black Bears reeled off seven straight points to pull within eight as baskets by Smith and Paula Gallego sandwiched a 3-pointer by Olivia Rockwood with 4:30 left.
But Madison St. Rose got behind the Black Bear defense for an easy layup off a Kaitlyn Chen pass and, seconds later, following another UMaine turnover, Chen hit a nice floater. UMaine turned the ball over three times during a 10-2 run including the Rose and Chen baskets.
Bornemann scored seven consecutive Black Bear points, surrounding a 3-pointer by Chen, to pull the Black Bears within 27-26 in the waning moments of the first half.
St. Rose’s 15-foot jumper was answered by Smith’s banked-in baseline basket to close out the half as Princeton took a 29-28 lead into the intermission.
In last year’s game at Princeton, the Tigers coasted into the half with a 39-17 lead before easing to a 82-43 victory.
UMaine shot 44 percent from the floor (11-for-25) and 28.6 percent beyond the 3-point arc (2-for-7) compared to Princeton’s 42.9 percent (12-for-28) and 33.3 percent (3-for-9) from long distance, but the taller Tigers had a 16-14 edge in rebounds.
