ORONO – The Maine women’s basketball team got off to a sluggish start in Tuesday night’s game against Hartford. Then it applied the remedy it usually uses to wake up its offense: Cindy Blodgett.

The sophomore, who leads the nation in scoring, sank 16 straight points in the final four minutes of the half to power Maine to a 44-16 halftime lead.

The run fueled the Bears on to a 90-41 romp and their eighth straight win. Blodgett finished with 29 points.

Maine improved to 16-4 and 10-0 in the North Atlantic Conference, its best start ever in the league. Hartford fell to 10-8 and 6-5 in the NAC.

Maine opened up the score at the end of the first half and didn’t let up as all of Maine’s starters logged at least 24 minutes, Blodgett played 33 minutes and Maine applied a relentless full-court press.

Maine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie said with 11 of Maine’s players seeing action, the Bears were focused on improving their game, not running up the score.

“We can’t control what others are going to do,” Palombo said. “We played our game. It was nice that we used a variety of players. You see upsets because teams aren’t focused. We have stated goals within the team that we’re focused on.”

Despite the vast chasm in the final score, Hartford fourth-year coach Allison Jones didn’t think Maine intended to embarrass the Hawks.

“If you’re not going to make your jump shots and layups, your going to struggle,” Jones said. “If you’re Maine, you’re not going to shoot to miss. You know what I mean?”

Jones was more dissatisfied with her team’s sloppy offensive effort than Maine’s relentless defense. Jones said Hartford simply fell to the pressure of the home crowd and the Bears’ press.

“Maine is one of the best defensive teams, certainly in the region,” Jones said. “Their pressure defense can certainly distract you if you allow it to.

“We were very dissappointed with how we played. Our young kids have to learn how to handle themselves in front of a crowd.”

Maine got off to a slow start leading by only 16-10 with nine minutes left in the first half.

Palombo wasn’t worried.

“It was only a matter of time before we got going on all cylinders,” Palombo said.

Hartford’s bad-shot selection helped give Maine an edge as the Hawks missed all their attempts from the 11-minute mark to 9:30 and for a three-minute span in the last seven minutes of the half.

What energized Maine was Blodgett’s intensity. With three minutes left in the half, Blodgett took a Catherine Gallant steal and hit her first 3-pointer.

At 2:22, she made her way inside with her fast-paced dribbling and put up an uncontested jumper.

Then, with a minute left, Blodgett hit her second 3-pointer and returned downtown with 22 seconds left to sink another.

The second half offered much of the same as Stacey Porrini poured in seven of her 19 points in the first five minutes and the Hartford offense never got going. Part of the reason why was Porrini who pulled down a career-high 17 rebounds.

As a team, Maine dominated the boards, outrebounding Hartford 53-34. As a result, Hartford suffered scoring droughts of 2:30 and three minutes in the second half.

“I was really pleased with our defensive effort,” Palombo said. “It dictated the tempo. We did a good job stopping them.”

Candace Ward and Danielle Houston led Hartford with eight points each.

Black Bears 90, Hawks 41

Hartford women Maine

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

Gronbeck 1 1 0 0 3 Danes 2 3 1 2 5

Randa 0 2 0 0 0 Bowman 1 3 0 0 2

Ward 3 14 2 6 8 Stubbs 1 2 0 0 2

Houston 4 9 0 0 8 Blodgett 9 21 8 9 29

Ivnik 3 9 0 0 7 Gallant 3 7 0 0 6

Murphy 2 6 2 4 6 Carver 4 7 0 0 8

DiJulia 0 1 1 2 1 Rustad 2 4 0 0 4

Stolle 0 3 1 2 1 Porrini 9 13 1 3 19

Sechler 0 1 0 0 0 Ripton 0 3 0 0 0

Weindorfer 3 17 1 2 7 Clark 2 3 0 0 4

Guidi 4 4 3 4 11

Totals 16 63 7 16 41 Totals 37 70 13 18 90

Hartford 16 41

Maine 44 46

3-pt. goals: Hartford (2-10): Gronbeck 1-1, Randa 0-1, Ward 0-2, Ivnik 1-3, Stolle 0-3; Maine (3-12): Bowman 0-1, Blodgett 3-8, Rustad 0-1, Ripton 0-2