Lizzy Gruber had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and the Maine Black Bears beat the Siena Saints 70-68 on Thursday night at Skip Chappelle Court in Memorial Gymnasium.
Maddie Fitzpatrick scored the go-ahead basket on a layup from Gruber with 1:26 left in the fourth quarter, putting Maine ahead 68-67. Fitzpatrick finished with 14 points and 17 rebounds and made all five of her free throws.
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Maine took control early. With the game tied 6-6 in the first quarter, the Black Bears scored 13 straight points to go up 19-6, and they led by as many as 15. Maine won the first quarter 19-12, Siena took the second 14-13 and Maine won the third 20-16.
Siena outscored Maine 26-18 in the fourth quarter. The game had four lead changes and four ties, and Siena's largest lead was one point.
Nicole Melious led Siena with 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Francesca Schiro added 16 points and five steals, and Kaiya Rain Tucker had 14 points, seven rebounds and three blocks. Lala Woods scored 13 points for Maine in 39 minutes.
Siena held a 46-28 edge in points in the paint and a 22-7 edge in fast-break points, and Maine committed 23 turnovers. The Black Bears outrebounded the Saints 43-33, made 8 of 25 3-pointers to Siena's 3 of 23 and went 14 of 21 at the free-throw line.
Maine is 1-0. Siena is 1-1.
