ORONO – Lapses – offensive, defensive, short and long – have been a fact of life this season for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

When the Black Bears went scoreless for nearly five minutes to open the second half in Thursday night’s America East quarterfinal against Drexel, there was no panic.

Cindy Blodgett made sure the lull didn’t last. Blodgett scored 12 points in a three-minute span, sending the Bears on their way to an 84-59 rout in front of an announced crowd of 2,817 at Alfond Arena.

Maine, 19-8, faces No. 3 Northeastern at 9 p.m. Friday in one semifinal. The Huskies topped No. 6 New Hampshire 71-59 in Thursday’s nightcap for coach Joy Malchodi’s 300th career victory.

Drexel, the No. 7 seed, finishes at 12-16.

Blodgett poured in 38 points, 27 in the second half, to provide the offensive spark. She went 13-for-17 from the foul line, contributing five rebounds, five assists and two steals.

“That’s just [Cindy] the player, knowing how to take control and to really just gain momentum,” said Maine coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie. “We’ve seen it many times beore. I’m sure we’ll see it many times again. I can’t say enough how she played tonight, just awesome.”

It was defensive intensity that helped Maine turn the momentum. Amy Vachon badgered the ballhandler at the top of the Bears’ matchup zone, which disrupted Drexel’s offense.

“We can get out and run a lot quicker when we’re rebounding and causing havoc [defensively],” Blodgett said. “Coach changed [the defense] up a lot on us and so once we find something that works, we sort of stick with it. In the first half, we were trying to find something that worked.”

Maine took advantage of some fast-break opportunities during an 18-8 run spearheaded by Blodgett. Vachon kicked off the surge with a 3-pointer, and Blodgett followed with another 30 seconds later.

Blodgett sandwiched two foul shots and a 3-pointer around a Maureen Michaels runner as Maine took a 53-42 lead with 14:04 left and steadily pulled away.

“It’s kind of frustrating when you can’t put the ball in the basket, but if you concentrate on defense and get some turnovers and steals and stuff, that will make the offense come a lot easier,” Vachon said.

Freshman forward Kizzy Lopez, backup center Andrea Clark and reserve forward Kelly Bowman were instrumental in keeping Maine’s defensive intensity high during the second half.

“Kizzy was a big spark off the bench, and Kelly Bowman,” Palombo said. “It’s the little things: it’s the boxout, it’s the extra rebound. Andi Clark played very physically.”

Blodgett helped Maine put the game away, scoring 12 points during a 14-0 run.

Vachon finished with 13 points, a team-leading six rebounds, and four steals. Klara Danes added 12 points. Jamie Cassidy, plagued by foul trouble, finished with five points and two rebounds.

Jen MacNeill and Michelle Maslowski led the Dragons withh 13 points each, while Maureen Michaels added 12. Drexel outrebounded Maine 41-36.

Drexel shot 52 percent from the floor and outrebounded the Bears 19-11, but trailed 42-36 at halftime. Blodgett hit only four of 12 shots, but Maine had no difficulty getting the ball inside to Klara Danes and Cassidy, who combined for 16 points.

In Thursday’s nightcap, the return of New Hampshire senior guard Kelly Karl wasn’t enough to propel the Wildcats past Northeastern.

Junior guard Tesha Tinsley poured in 19 points and handed out five assists for the Huskies, overshadowing the return of New Hampshire’s senior standout.

Karl, who missed six of the final seven games with a suspected stress fracture of the foot, scored 10 points (eight in the first half), but the Wildcats never seemed to get into an offensive flow.

The Huskies led 36-27 at the half, withstood a 10-0 run early in the second, and cruised to the win.

New Hampshire whittled the lead to 42-38 on an Adrianne Domanski drive and hoop with 12:37 to play, but a free throw from Wanda Almengot and back-to-back 3-pointers from Amanda Herzog and Tinsley sandwiched a pair of free throws by UNH’s Orsi Farkas and pushed the edge back to 49-40.

Betsy Palecek netted 13 to go with nine rebounds for Northestern, while Nakiya Jackson scored 10.

Farkas scored 18 for New Hampshire, which finishes 12-15.

Black Bears 84, Dragons 59

Drexel women (12-16) Maine (19-8)

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

MacNeill 6 15 0 0 13 Danes 4 6 4 5 12

Maslowski 4 6 5 6 13 Carver 2 6 2 4 6

Vebrosky 2 6 0 0 4 Cassidy 2 6 1 1 5

Michaels 4 13 2 2 12 Blodgett 10 22 13 17 38

Miller 3 8 1 2 7 Vachon 5 8 1 1 13

McGinty 1 4 0 0 2 Macream 0 1 2 4 2

Lyons 3 7 0 0 6 McCormick 1 2 0 0 2

McGovern 0 0 0 0 0 Bowman 0 0 2 2 2

Neibert 0 0 0 0 0 Lopez 0 2 2 2 2

Bielli 0 0 0 0 0 Tinklova 0 1 2 2 2

Mix 1 3 0 0 2 Clark 0 1 0 0 0

Mazzie 0 0 0 0 0

Totals 24 62 8 10 59 Totals 24 55 29 38 84

Drexel 36 59

Maine 42 84

3-pt. goals: Drexel (3-15): Michaels 2-7, MacNeill 1-2, Vebrosky 0-3, Lyons 0-3; Maine (7-15): Blodgett 5-8, Vachon 2-3, Carver 0-1, McCormick 0-1, Lopez 0-2

Attendance: 2,817

Huskies 71, Wildcats 59

UNH women (12-15) Northeastern (15-12)

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

Kassik 2 8 0 0 5 Lawrence 2 5 0 0 4

Godfrey 2 3 2 5 6 Almengot 3 6 5 6 11

Farkas 4 14 10 10 18 Palecek 6 10 1 2 13

Schubert 4 5 0 0 9 Tinsley 8 15 0 0 19

Karl 4 5 0 0 10 DiMaria 2 5 0 0 5

Donohue 1 2 1 2 3 Herzog 3 6 0 0 7

Domanski 4 10 0 0 8 Burroughs 0 0 0 0 0

Bushey 0 0 0 0 0 Hanewald 0 0 2 2 2

Beal 0 0 0 0 0 Jackson 2 2 5 6 10

Totals 21 47 13 17 59 Totals 26 49 13 16 71

Northeastern 27 59

New Hampshire 36 71

3-pt. goals: New Hampshire (4-10): Kassik 1-2, Schubert 1-1, Karl 2-2, Domanski 0-5; Northeastern (6-12): Almengot 0-1, Tinsley 3-6, DiMaria 1-1, Herzog 1-3, Jackson 1-1