Blondeau Tchoukuiegno goes up for two of his career-high 23 points in UNH's win over Maine on Wednesday night in Durham. (Photo courtesy of UNH Athletics)

DURHAM — Sophomore guard Blondeau Tchoukuiegno (Montreal, Quebec) of the University of New Hampshire men’s basketball team paced the Wildcats with a career-high 23 points in the 73-61 victory against Maine on Wednesday night in America East play.

The Wildcats improve to 8-7 overall (3-3 AE), while Maine drops to 4-14 overall (1-6 AE) after the loss.

Tchoukuiegno shot 8-for-10 on the night, including 3-for-3 from the three-point arc with four rebounds and three steals. Senior forward Jayden Martinez (Cibolo, Texas) totaled 17 points on 7-for-14 shooting with five rebounds.

Sophomore guard Marco Foster (Chicago, Ill.) amassed 14 points (5-11 FG) on 4-of-10 from three-point land and three assists. Senior forward Nick Guadarrama (Newington, Conn.) chipped in with 10 points (5-11 FG) and eight rebounds.

UNH opened the first half on a 15-0 run in the first 4:07 of the game. The Wildcats held a 42-27 at halftime against the Black Bears. The ‘Cats held a 35-25 rebounding advantage in the contest, as well as a 32-20 edge in points in the paint. Each team turned the ball over only seven times in the game.

Sam Ihekwoaba totaled 13 points, while Vukasin Masic notched 12 points in the losing effort for the Black Bears.

The Wildcats return to action Saturday vs. Stony Brook in America East play. Game time is 1 p.m. from Lundholm Gymnasium on ESPN3.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MAINE 53, UNH 45

Senior guard Sophia Widmeyer (Dartmouth, Nova Scotia) led three University of New Hampshire players in double figures in scoring, but the Wildcats to 4-14 overall and 1-6 in America East play. The Wildcats play at Stony Brook on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Maine improved to 7-10 overall (4-3 AE).

Widmeyer had 11 points and also led the Wildcats with eight rebounds. Grad student guard Amanda Torrres (Hudson, N.H.) and junior guard Helena Delaruelle (Enghien-Les-Bains, France) each added 10 points for UNH. Delaruelle also had six rebounds and four steals and Torres had three assists.

The Wildcats had a 33-31 edge in rebounds. They made 11 of their 12 shots but were two-for-eight from behind the three-point line.

The Black Bears made seven of their 22 three-point shots and were 12-for-17 in free throws.

UNH had 23 turnovers to Maine’s 18.

Trailing 48-38 with just over three minutes to play, the Wildcats cut it to 49-45 with 37 seconds left. Maine made four straight foul shots down the stretch to close the game out.

Anne Simon led the Black Bears with 16 points and Caroline Bornemann had 14, including four three-pointers. Simon also had eight steals. Maeve Carroll collected 12 rebounds to go with her seven points.

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