Sophomore guard Jaycie Christopher poured in a game-high and season-high 21 points, including four crucial 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, to lead the University of Maine to an 80-72 win over Duquesne in the Tulane Holiday Tournament in New Orleans on Wednesday afternoon.
UMaine, now 7-5, will face host Tulane, 6-4, in the championship game on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
Tulane beat Arkansas-Little Rock, 66-57, earlier Wednesday.
Duquesne, from Pittsburgh, and Arkansas-Little Rock will play in the consolation game at noon.
Skowhegan’s Christopher scored all of her points from beyond the 3-point arc, going 7-for-13 as she reached double figures for the third straight game.
She hit a 3-pointer with 3:08 remaining to give the Black Bears a 71-64 lead and some valuable breathing room. Her previous three had given them a 68-60 lead.
Graduate student guard Anne Simon nailed a three following a Duquesne layup by Amaya Hamilton to make it 74-66 with 2:23 remaining, and the Dukes couldn’t get any closer than four the rest of the way.
Four foul shots by junior forward Adi Smith and two by Simon sewed up the win.
“Jaycie got off to a slow start by her standards this season but she has been playing really well lately,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon. “They kept leaving her open and she did a good job stepping into her shot and knocking them down.”
Simon and Smith each registered double-doubles, as Simon had 19 points and 11 rebounds to go with six assists, while Smith had 15 rebounds and 10 assists to go with eight points.
It was Smith’s eighth double-double of the season including six in the last seven games.
Senior forward Caroline Bornemann notched 13 points and grabbed four rebounds to go with three assists, and junior guard Paula Gallego produced 11 points and four steals.
“It was a real good team win,” said Vachon. “Anne and Adi played great, and it was nice to see other kids step up.”
Vachon also said she liked her team’s resilience.
“They kept making runs at us but we never gave up the lead,” she said.
She noted that her team had 23 assists and only nine turnovers, which was outstanding.
The Black Bears also outrebounded the Dukes 40-29.
UMaine had a 16-2 edge in second-chance points thanks to its 12-3 edge in offensive rebounds.
UMaine hit 14 3-pointers in 41 attempts, while Duquesne had an 8-for-21 showing from long distance.
Megan McConnell’s 18 points, nine assists and six rebounds paced Duquesne. Naelle Bernard had 15 points and three rebounds and Ayanna Townsend netted 12 points and five rebounds.
Tess Myers had nine points, three rebounds and three assists and Amaya Hamilton had eight points, six rebounds and three assists.
UMaine used a 22-9 spurt to close out the first half with a 44-32 lead and never relinquished the advantage, though the Dukes were able to cut the lead to two in the second half.
Bornemann had nine points, and Simon had eight during the spurt.