PORTLAND – The University of Maine women’s basketball program scheduled the Portland Shootout tournament to proudly showcase its program against some high-level opponents.

The Black Bears went into the locker room embarrassed at halftime of Sunday’s first-round game. They came out determined to prove they were better than they had shown.

Maine’s scrappy man-to-man defense set the tone, as the Bears stifled Georgia State in the second half on their way to a 49-36 victory at the Cumberland County Civic Center here.

Coach Joanne Palombo’s Maine team takes a 5-3 record into Monday’s 3 p.m. Portland Shootout title game against 5-1 Kent State, a 97-91 winner over Illinois in Sunday’s early game.

Georgia State, now 2-7, faces 4-3 Illinois in the 1 p.m. consolation contest.

“I was screaming that `you guys are good and this is ridiculous!’ ” Palombo said of her halftime speech. “We talked a lot about Maine pride, representing the university. I was completely embarrassed. In the second half, I was the opposite of that, completely proud.”

The Bears responded with a much more impressive second-half performance.

Maine fed off its defensive intensity in the second half, going man-to-man almost exclusively. As a result, the Bears seemed to get into more of an offensive flow while shutting down the Lady Panthers.

Sparked by guards Chrissy Strong, Erin Grealy, Seana Dionne and Stacia Rustad, the Bears limited Georgia State to only one point during the first eight minutes, 44 seconds of the second half.

“I think we just picked up the intesity a little bit,” said Strong, a senior co-captain. “We were a little timid offensively in the first half, and I think that’s pretty evident by the score. And it kind of carried over to our defense.”

“We came out the second half in man-to-man pressure all over the court and that kind of changed the tempo of the game for us. We got into it a little more and we got more hungry on offense.”

In the meantime, Maine was able to utilize the talents of Stephanie Guidi and Catherine Gallant in the low post while turning a 23-15 halftime deficit into a 27-24 lead four minutes into the half. Trailing 23-19, Grealy fired in a runner from the lane and Gallant sank two free throws.

The Panthers countered with one Nerissa Mattox foul shot, but a rebound hoop and two free throws by Guidi gave Maine the lead for good at 27-24 with 13:50 still to play.

Georgia State wound up shooting an abyssmal 4-for-26 (15 percent) from the floor in the second half.

“I went man to get our kids alive,” Palombo said “I felt like we were holding on and playing soft. I didn’t sense that we really were together. I just wanted to throw the game back at them and go from there.”

Guidi spearheaded the Maine effort with a game-high 14 points – 10 in the second half – and 13 rebounds. Gallant had all eight of her points in the second half.

Grealy tossed in 12 points for the Bears. Strong finished with seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Rustad, playing for the first time since Nov. 28 after suffering a stress fracture in her foot, added five points.

Rita Sullivan and Dionne were defensive stalwarts for Maine.

Lakia Hayes scored 11 points to pace Georgia State.

The first half was about as sloppy as women’s college basketball gets. The two teams combined for 31 turnovers, 16 of them by the Black Bears.

Georgia State forged ahead with a 10-0 run beginning at the 16:03 mark. Tonya Morton opened the flurry with two free throws and capped it with a 3-pointer at 13:31, giving the Panthers a 12-6 lead.

Maine struggled offensively in the face of the Panthers’ man-to-man, hitting six of 20 from the floor. The Bears went through a scoring drought of seven minutes, 24 seconds starting at the 16:54 mark.

Georgia State did some damage from the foul line during the last nine minutes of the half, hitting seven of eight while Maine bricked its way through a span of 7:20 without making a shot from the floor.

Black Bears 49, Panthers 36

Georgia State Maine women

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Armstrong 0 0 0 0 0 Strong 2 1 4 1 3

Anderson 9 2 0 0 5 Grealy 14 5 2 2 12

Morton 3 1 2 2 5 Stubbs 0 0 0 0 0

Gorham 2 0 4 4 4 Bachm’ek 0 0 0 0 0

Carpenter 0 0 0 0 0 Gallant 5 3 2 2 8

Mattox 6 1 2 1 3 Smith 0 0 0 0 0

Court 1 0 0 0 0 Rustad 3 1 2 4 5

Gurnell 1 0 0 0 0 Porrini 1 0 0 0 0

Jones 16 4 0 0 8 Dionne 4 1 2 0 2

Hayes 8 2 9 7 11 Ripton 2 0 0 0 0

Sullivan 1 1 2 1 3

Buetow 1 1 0 0 2

Guidi 13 4 6 6 14

Totals 46 10 17 14 36 Totals 46 17 22 14 49

Georgia State 15 36

Maine 23 49

3-pt. goals: Georgia State (2-for-8): Anderson 1-5, Morton 1-1, Court 0-1, Jones 0-1; Maine (1-for-3): Grealy 0-1, Rustad 1-1, Guidi 0-1

Flashes 97, Illini 91

Kent State (6-1) 97

Burden 8-3-21, Lathwell 7-1-19, Carroll 1-0-2, Lynn 11-10-33, Homa 1-0-3, Smith 1-1-4, Nelson 4-5-13, Larson 1-0-2, Wheeler, Weisman, Haberkorn Illinois (4-3) 91

Henderson 1-0-2, Booker 1-4-7, Cunningham 6-11-28, Dupps 16-5-41, Dill 2-1-5, Clinton 4-0-8, Smith, Klingler, Hanna

3-pt. goals: Lathwell 4, Burden 2, Lynn, Homa, Smith; Cunningham 5, Dupps 4, Booker 1

Halftime: Kent State 61, Illinois 40