By Erika Carrubba
The Northeastern women’s basketball team fell hard against the University of Maine Tuesday night, 71-45, at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine.
Junior Maralene Zwarich led the Huskies (9-13, 4-9 AE) with 17 points, while senior forward Francesca Vanin dropped 10 in the losing effort.
The Black Bears sit atop the conference with an America East mark of 11-2 and an overall mark of 15-8.
On Saturday, the Huskies notched their fourth conference win while continuing the University of Maryland – Baltimore County’s six-game losing streak with a close 58-55 victory.
The game began with a ceremony celebrating Zwarich’s 1,000 career point, which she scored last week against Vermont. She is the 12th player in school history to reach the plateau. Teammate Francesca Vanin has also accomplished the 1,000 mark.
NU trailed the Retrievers a minute into the game, but took the lead on a Zwarich steal and layup. They would hold the lead until 3:12 left in the period, when UMBC went on an 11-4 run to take the advantage into halftime, 27-24.
The second half started with a battle for the lead that the Huskies won on a Vanin jumper. The Retrievers countered, taking the lead 36-35; it would be the last time they led the game. A layup by freshman Shaleyse Smallwood at the 9:27 mark gave the Huskies the lead for good. UMBC came within two of the Huskies with a minute left in the game, but free throws from Zwarich and sophomore guard Jody Burrows kept the Huskies on top for a final score of 58-55.
“We really needed this win. It wasn’t our best game but we got it done,” said Burrows, who had 11 points in her first game with double-digits since recovering from an ankle injury that forced her to sit out for five games.
“I am feeling better every day, but I am still not 100 percent. Hopefully it won’t be too much longer,” Burrows said.
Vanin led the team with 16 points and Zwarich extended her double-digit scoring streak to 19 games with 15 points and a team leading seven rebounds.
“It feels good to get a win, we took a couple breaks on defense and that’s when they took the lead,” Zwarich said.
The Huskies are back in action Sunday afternoon when they travel to brand new Agganis Arena for a day of Northeastern versus Boston University basketball. The women tip-off at 1 p.m. and the men will start at 4 p.m.
In their previous meeting on Jan. 19, the Huskies lost a tightly fought battle, 74-69. Zwarich led all scorers with 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds in the losing effort.
