The Black Bears are ousted by Texas Tech.
By Sun Journal Staff

MISSOULA, Mt. – Two of the things that served the Maine women so well this season, free-throw shooting and strong senior play, abandoned them in the NCAA tournament.

Yet No. 13 Maine still pushed No. 4 Texas Tech for most of Saturday’s quarterfinal before finally bowing to the Red Raiders, 60-50.

Texas Tech will meet the winner of the late Louisiana Tech/Montana quarterfinal on Monday.

Despite combined 2-for-21 shooting from its top three scorers, seniors Heather Ernest, Missy Heon and Julie Veilleux, Maine never trailed by double figures until the final moments of the game.

Missy Traversi led the Black Bears (25-7) with 20 points off the bench, while Monica Peterson added 15 points and nine rebounds. Ernest, from Temple, finished her career at Maine with just three points on 1-of-9 shooting and eight rebounds. Alesha Robertson paced Texas Tech (25-7) with 16 points, while Casey Jackson added 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Maine shot just 10-for-18 (56 percent) from the free-throw line after finishing eighth in the nation by shooting 77 percent from the line during the season. Texas Tech shot 71 percent (20-of-28) from the line, including 10-for-12 in the final two minutes to break open a six-point game.

The lead changed hands eight times in the first 10 minutes of the game. Maine, looking for its second NCAA tournament win in school history, took its final lead in the first half on a Traversi jumper that made it 11-10 with 11:15 left. Texas Tech, winners of 12-straight NCAA first-round games responded with a 9-3 run, with Robertson scoring all five of her first half points in the span of four minutes.

Maine, meanwhile, went more than six minutes without a field goal as two-time America East Conference Player of the Year Ernest (0-for-2 from the field) never got into the flow. Traversi (11 first-half points) picked up the slack, however, drilling a pair of 3-pointers sandwiched around a Lindsey Hustad-Vaa jumper as Maine pulled even at 23-23 with 2:54 left in the half.

The Black Bears got sloppy in the final two minutes, however, and the Red Raiders opened a 29-25 lead at intermission.

Texas Tech led by as much as nine in the second half, but Traversi sparked the Black Bears again with a three-point play and a putback that pulled Maine within 41-38 with 11:44 left in the game.

That was as close as Maine would get, however, as the Red Raiders went on a 7-2 run to open an eight-point lead, then scored their final 12 points from the line to hold Maine at bay.

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