EASTON, Mass. (November 26, 2024) – The University of Maine closed out the first half with a 15-5 run, burying six of its 14 three-pointers in the contest in the second quarter alone, to take a ten point lead into halftime and turned back Stonehill College for an 87-75 victory in a non-conference women's basketball matchup on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.
Postgrad
Caroline Bornemann and sophomore
Caroline Dotsey combined for 47 points to lead Maine to the win. Dotsey scored a career-high 26 points off the bench on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range, with two assists, while Bornemann added a double-double with 21 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, a blocked shot and steal. Senior
Sera Hodgson rounded out the Black Bears in double-figures with 12 points and two steals.
Freshman
Megan Sias led four from Stonehill in double-figures with a season-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting in 20-minutes off the bench with a season-high matching five rebounds. Senior
Sharn Hayward, while being held under 20 points for the first time in three games, posted her fifth-straight double-figure scoring game with 18 points, four rebounds and a season-high six assists, while postgrad
Kylie Swider added her second double-double of the season with 12 points, ten rebounds and a blocked shot. Sophomore
Brooke Paquette rounded out the double-figure scorers for Stonehill with 14 points, aided by 8-of-9 shooting from the free-throw line by drawing nine fouls, four assists and three boards.
 Swider posted her second career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds for the Skyhawks (PHOTO BY Sophia DiNanno, '27) |
Led by the combined 38 points by Dotsey and Hodgson, the Maine reserves outscored the Stonehill bench by a 45-25 margin, while posting a 24-11 advantage in points off turnovers despite the Skyhawks turning the ball over a season-low 15 times, while the Black Bears turned it over just six.
Stonehill started fast, connecting on 10-of-15 shots in the opening quarter alone, including 3-of-6 from deep, scoring eight of the first ten points of the contest for a six point edge less than two minutes into the game after a three-point play from Paquette who scored five points in all in that stretch. The Skyhawks lead stretched to seven (13-6) after a Hayward layup less than two minutes later, but Maine followed with a 13-5 run to take its first lead of the game (19-18) after two free-throws from postgrad
Olivia Rockwood with 3:26 left in the quarter.
Stonehill followed with the next seven points, including four by Sias after a Hayward triple, to reclaim a six-point cushion (25-19) with 100-seconds left in the first. The Skyhawks carried a four-point edge (27-23) into the second quarter and quickly regained the six-point margin (29-23) with a Swider layup on the first possession.
Stonehill's lead was still five (31-26) after a Swider turnaround with 8:21 to go in the second quarter. Maine reeled off a 15-3 run to grab a nine-point lead (47-38) after six-straight points from Bornemann with 1:08 on the clock. Dotsey sent the Black Bears into the lockerroom with a ten-point cushion (50-40) with a three-pointer at the buzzer. Maine offset Stonehill's hot-shooting first quarter by matching it with 10-of-15 shooting from the floor in the second quarter but buried 6-of-8 three-pointers.
A Hayward layup was the lone basket by either team in the first two and a half minutes of the second half, but Bornemann broke the ice with a layup with 7:25 to play in the quarter. Stonehill trimmed the deficit to seven (54-47) with a three-point play by Sias, but the Black Bears answered with an 8-2 spurt to take a 13-point lead (62-49) with 3:41 to go in the third.
Hayward contributed 18 points for her fifth-straight double-figure game (PHOTO BY Sophia DiNanno, '27)
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Hayward drained a three to pull Stonehill within eight with under three minutes to go in the third and was within nine (67-58) heading to the fourth. The Skyhawks pushed to within five three times over the first two minutes of the quarter and after neither team scored for a three-minute stretch before Paquette made two free-throws to trim the deficit to three (71-68) midway through the quarter.
Dotsey followed with a layup and then a three-pointer off a Hodgson steal to stretch the Maine lead to eight (76-68) with 4:39 on the clock. Swider scored inside for Stonehill, but the Black Bears clinched the win with six-straight points by Dotsey, including a back-breaking three-pointer with a minute to go to push the lead back into double-figures (83-72) for good.
Noteworthy
