The Massachusetts Women’s Basketball team was dominated by Maine’s offensive barrage in the first quarter as they lost 69-48 on Sunday afternoon.
The Minutewomen did not start the game well as the Black Bears went on a 12-4 run to begin the first quarter. Offensively, the Black Bears had their way with UMass as they shot 10-15 from the field, forced Massachusetts into seven turnovers and outscored them 23-9 in the first quarter.
The Minutewomen started the second quarter better than the first quarter on a 9-3 run. However, Maine responded back with a 16-4 run to end the second quarter which extended their lead to 20 points entering the half. Massachusetts shot the ball well in the second, shooting 50% from the field. But once again, turnovers cost them.
UMass had four turnovers compared to the Black Bears who had none in the second quarter. In total, the Minutewomen turned the ball over 15 times against the Black Bears. The Black Bears capitalized on this as they scored 21 points off those 15 turnovers. Turnovers have been a problem this season for Massachusetts. In three games, the Minutewomen average 17.3 turnovers a game.
This is a stark contrast to last season where UMass was ranked the best in the A10 for giving up the least turnovers with an average of 13.6 turnovers a game.
The third and fourth quarters were a bit of the same from Massachusetts. They chipped away at the Black Bears lead, but in the end, the 14-point deficit the Minutewomen dug themselves in the first quarter was too much to overcome.
Junior guard Stefanie Kulesza led UMass in scoring with 15 points, shooting 6-10 from the field. However, Kulesza picked up four fouls in the game with two of those coming early in the first quarter. This limited the number of minutes she played in the first half.
Guard Anne Simon led Maine in scoring with a career-high of 27 points, shooting 11-9 from the field, 4-9 from three and had nine rebounds.
The first skid of the season is upon head coach Mike Leflar. It will be tough to improve with only eight healthy players available. As they get healthier, that should give Leflar a boost to his team. However, it’s on him to get the team to click.
The Minutewomen fall to 1-2 and look to return to winning ways as they return home on Thursday to play Harvard at 6 p.m.
