Feb. 1, 2004

Box Score

ORONO, Maine - (courtesy of www.GoBlackBears.com) Senior forward Heather Ernest scored a game-high 21 points to lead the University of Maine women's basketball team to a 63-53 win over Stony Brook University, in front of 4,128 fans on Sunday afternoon at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.

The 4,128 fans represents the second-largest basketball crowd, men's or women's, in an America East facility this season, trailing only Binghamton University which had 4,660 on hand for the opening of its new Events Center on Saturday afternoon. It was the largest Alfond Arena crowd for women's basketball since Feb. 18, 2000, when 4,919 were in attendance for a 75-60 Maine win over Hofstra.

"This was one of the best environments since I've been here," said Maine coach Sharon Versyp. "It was a great atmosphere and a huge advantage for us."

"It was really awesome to see both sides of the arena completely full and see that many people come out and support us," said Ernest. "I just wanted to tell all of them - please come back and see us again!"

Ernest shot 9-18 from the field and pulled down 14 boards, including seven on the offensive glass, while logging her ninth double-double of the season. Senior guard Melissa Heon added another 16 points, including four three-pointers, while junior guard Kim Corbitt finished with eight assists, one off her career high.

The Black Bears (13-5, 8-0) started to pull away from Stony Brook late in the first half on a 13-2 run, anchored by a pair of Heon three-pointers. That run helped Maine carry a 34-26 lead into the lockerroom at halftime.

Stony Brook (2-15, 1-7) attempted to fight its way back into the contest early in the second half, trimming the margin to seven points on Bojana Bogetic's layup with 13:43 remaining. Ernest quickly got the Black Bear lead back into double-digits with a layup that turned into a three-point play on a Mykeema Ford foul, followed by a jumper from senior Julie Veilleux.

"We need to be able to answer runs, and when it got to seven points we were able to do that," said Versyp.

Defensively, the Black Bears held Stony Brook to just 37.7% (20-53) shooting from the field - the 11th time in 18 games this season that Maine has held its opponent to below 40.0% from the floor. The Seawolves did sink six three-pointers during the game, including four by Ford. Maine dominated the boards, 43 to 34, including 17 offensive rebounds.

For Stony Brook, Ford finished with 19 points while Jessica Smith logged a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Sherry Jordan, a Preseason All-America East selection, was held to just six points.