BANGOR, Maine. – Despite a career-high 12 points from Chasidey Willis (Detroit, Mich.), the UMass Lowell's basketball team suffered a 77-53 defeat to Maine in America East action on Wednesday night.
 
The Black Bears (8-14, 4-7 AE) outscored the River Hawks (12-13, 8-4 AE), 42-22, in the first half, including 10 of 19 made three-pointers to take control of the contest early on.
 
"We lost a little bit of our focus and we need to try and find a way to regain it," commented head coach Tom Garrick. "Much to Maine's credit they came out ready to take advantage of every misstep that we took. We dug ourselves too big of a hole and with a team that is as youthful as ours it was insurmountable to overcome."
 
Maine opened on a 5-0 lead in the first five minutes, but a Willis layup ended the drought to give the River Hawks their first points of the night.
 
After Kharis Idom (Orlando, Fla.) knocked down her first triple of the contest, the Black Bears would capitalize on a 14-0 run with Maddy McVicar going 4-for-5 outside the arc to put the home team up 22-5. Another three-pointer by Idom would end the River Hawk scoring drought followed by a free throw opportunity from freshman Shamyjha Price (Pittsburgh, Pa.), ending the first quarter, 22-9.
 
Idom scored the first points of the second to extend the visitors run, but McVicar would respond with another triple to spark a 10-2 run for the Black Bears.
 
With one-minute left in the second Idom would hit her third triple of the night, followed by a layup from freshman Kaylen Banwareesingh (Bronx, N.Y.) to give the River Hawks a 5-0 spurt, trailing 42-22 at the half.
 
Points coming from Willis and Banwareesnigh would open the third to give the River Hawks their best run of the contest, cutting the deficit to 16 points, but another 6-0 run by the Black Bears would give them a 59-34 lead heading into the final minutes.
 
The fourth quarter featured more hot shooting from Willis, who picked up a jumper in the opening minutes. Unfortunately, Maine would extend their lead off more points from McVicar, as she finished the contest with 25 points.
 
Up next the River Hawks will host Hartford on Saturday afternoon at the Tsongas Center for a Senior Day celebration. Felicia Korte, Ren'Cia Rolling, Brianne Stiers and Megan Hendrick will all be celebrated for their contributions to the program.