Torres' 19 Points Leads UNH Past Maine, 58-57

Saturday, January 2

Durham, N.H.

1 PM

University of New Hampshire

2-6,2-3America East

Maine

5-1,2-1America East

Maine

New Hampshire

Photo by: Michelle Bronner

1/2/2021 4:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

DURHAM, N.H. – Senior Amanda Torres (Hudson, N.H.) led the Wildcats with 19 points as the University of New Hampshire women's basketball team defeated Maine on Saturday afternoon, 58-57, at Lundholm Gymnasium.

The Wildcats improve to 2-6 overall (2-3 America East), while the Black Bears fall to 5-1 overall (2-1 America East). The Wildcats snapped Maine's 15-game winning streak as the Black Bears won their final 10 games last season and their first five in 2020-21.

UNH wins game one of the two-game Border Battle series presented by Buffalo Wild Wings.

Final Score: UNH 58, Maine 57

Records: UNH (2-6, 2-3 America East); Maine (5-1, 2-1 America East)
Location: Durham, N.H. (Lundholm Gym)
Date: Saturday, January 2, 2021
Box Score • Video Highlights

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter

The Wildcats took an early 4-0 lead with layups by junior forward Ivy Gogolin (Hopkinton, Mass.) and sophomore guard Brooke Kane (Derry, N.H.).
Then with the game tied at 6-6, UNH went on a 6-0 run on two made 3-pointers by Torres to move out to a 12-6 advantage with 2:29 left in the first quarter.
Maine ended the first quarter by outscoring the Wildcats 6-3 as UNH held a 15-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.

Second Quarter

The Wildcats extended their lead to 20-14 in the early going of the second quarter, but the Black Bears went on a 10-0 run to take a 24-20 lead with 4:27 remaining.
The Wildcats battled back to outscore Maine 7-5 as the Black Bears went to halftime with a 29-27 advantage.

Third Quarter

With UNH trailing 32-28, four straight points by Gogolin tied the contest at 32-32 with 6:07 left in the third quarter.
The third quarter continued to go back-and-forth as the score was tied at 34-34 and 37-37.

Fourth Quarter:

The Wildcats entered the fourth quarter with a 42-39 lead and extended their advantage to 46-42 with 7:25 left.
But 3-pointers by Anne Simon and Kelly Fogarty would put Maine up by a 48-46 score.
A driving layup by sophomore guard Héléna Delaruelle (Enghien-les-Bains, France) tied the game at 48-48 with 4:41 on the clock, but a 3-pointer by Fogarty gave the Black Bears a 51-48 lead.
Another Fogarty 3-ball gave Maine a 57-51 lead at 1:48, but UNH closed the game on a 7-0 run for the victory.
Torres' jumper in the paint made it 57-53 with 1:26 to play and Kane's 3-pointer lifted the 'Cats within 57-56 with 50 seconds on the clock.
Maine called time out with 30 seconds remaining, but Blanca Millan missed a 3-pointer. Torres pulled down the defensive board and was fouled immediately with 8 seconds to play.
Torres hit both foul shots to put the Wildcats back in front, 58-57.
Maine called another timeout and advanced the ball into the frontcourt. UNH knocked the ball loose but the Black Bears retained possession on a jump ball with 1.3 seconds remaining, at which point Maine called its last timeout.
Paige Cote (Sanford, Maine), subbed into the game by UNH to deny the inbounds pass, did exactly that as the swatted the inbounds pass down to the court and corralled to ball to secure the victory.

Wildcat Notebook

Torres made 8 of 11 free throws and 5 of 11 field goals (with one 3-pointer) for her 19 points, which is one less than her career high. She also had a team-high five assists.
Kane finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Gogolin almost recorded a double-double with nine points and team-high 11 rebounds.
UNH limited Maine to 29.9 percent (20-67) field goal shooting, including 31.4 percent (11-35) from 3-point range.
The Wildcats finished with a 49-38 rebounding advantage that included 16-14 on the offensive glass.
With that edge, UNH had a 15-11 advantage in second-chance points.
New Hampshire had a 20-16 scoring edge in the paint.
UNH ended Maine's nine-game win streak in the series.

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NEXT UP:

UNH and Maine conclude the two-game series Sunday, Jan. 3, as part of the Border Battle, presented by Buffalo Wild Wings. Game time is 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

Kelsey Hogan QUOTES
General Comments
"Proud of our young ladies. Proud of their effort, proud of especially those last couple possessions down the stretch. Maine hit some big, big 3s, big shots and you know what? With our youth, we could have had a shut down, but they bought in and they continued just to stay confident and positive down that stretch."

On Amanda Torres' game-clinching free throws
"For me, that's who you want to go to the line to ice the game, especially the senior. She's been playing like a senior, we go as she goes. She had a great game today, I'm really happy with her efforts…nobody better that we want on the line to gain us that lead."

On back-to-back defensive stops involving freshmen Groman and Cote
"Our freshmen had a big, big possession there. Especially we knew, or figured, the ball would be coming to Millan, the best player in our conference, and our freshmen kind of stood up, we were able to pinch her, not give her a look down the stretch, again all I could ask for. They were locked in. They wanted it…so really proud of their efforts. They acted like they've been there before, even when we haven't."

Looking ahead to Sunday's rematch
"We're going to have another film session, but we have to continue to make adjustments, absolutely, especially on the offensive end. Too many turnovers for us, we've got to tighten some things up, and then defensively, we are still going to look to mix up our defenses as much as we did today."

Amanda Torres QUOTES
Game Reaction
"…It was a super big win for us. We're all really really excited, proud of how we worked. We were thrown a lot of new stuff this week at practice and just how we all adjusted to it, but I think a lot of us know like tomorrow's another game, like we have to bring it tomorrow too, so a lot of excitement and we're all looking forward to tomorrow's game, too."

Emphasis on the Free Throw Line
"…one of our keys to our game was definitely attack and be more aggressive to demand those calls. In Hartford, we kind of struggled with get-in calls and going strong to the basket, so it's definitely something that we've been talking about all week in practice, just attacking the rim strong and finishing those layups."

Potential Concern for Maine's Shooting Capabilities Tomorrow
"…I think they started to hit at the end of the game and we kind of adjusted. I think it's just going to be making a little bit of adjustments to our defense, but overall I think we did a really good job. So just keeping like what we did today with communication will be really helpful for us tomorrow."

Thoughts at the Final Game's Free Throw Line
"…I think definitely my free throws throughout the game were kind of on and off, like I had missed and made some, so I think for me, it's kind of just clearing my head, not think about it because when I do think about it I just stress myself out. So that was kind of just me…not thinking about anything else and just shooting them like they were any other free throws."

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