ORONO – The tougher things get, the more impressively the University of Maine women’s basketball team seems to respond.

In the wake of Lacey Stone’s dismissal from the team Monday for violating team rules, the nine remaining Black Bears pulled together, again, Friday night.

UMaine mustered a gritty overall defensive performance and scored 33 points in the last 14 minutes while pulling away for a 69-47 America East victory over Hartford with 3,760 fans cheering the Bears on at Alfond Arena.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s team improved to 8-12, 5-6 in America East, with its fourth win in the last five games heading into Sunday’s 1 p.m. contest at Vermont (11-8, 7-3).

Seemingly unaffected by the most recent bout of adversity to hit the team, UMaine demonstrated intensity and emotion.

“Pretty much we just have come even closer [together],” said UMaine senior Kizzy Lopez.

“We try and find the good out of a situation like that and this is it. We’re coming together,” she said. “We’re going out and working really hard. We’re ready for anything, I can tell you that right now.”

The Bears’ tenacity translated into a 55-28 rebounding advantage and 24 second-chance points that prevented the Hawks (10-9, 5-5) from keeping it close.

“I thought the difference tonight was the amount of heart that they played with,” said Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti, pointing to the rebounding margin. “They were just all over the place.”

Lopez set the tone for the Bears with 12 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, nine of which came in the first half. Freshman forward Heather Ernest of Temple registered her 14th double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.

Freshman Julie Veilleux of Augusta broke out of her recent offensive slump with 12 points, while Anna James (8 rebounds), Melissa Heon, and Ellen Geraghty added eight points apiece.

Tracy Guerrette of St. Agatha patiently ran the offense in the face of relentless Hartford man-to-man pressure, committing only one turnover in 38 minutes.

Versyp continues to marvel at her team’s resilience.

“You do become very tight [close-knit] when you have to go through some tough issues and I would not let them turn and go the other way,” Versyp said. “I think these kids are incredible. I wouldn’t trade them in for the world.”

High-leaping forward Janeka Lopp tossed in a game-high 21 points for the Hawks. Kenitra Johnson added seven points and six rebounds.

The Bears played man-to-man with a 1-2-2 zone mixed in, holding the Hawks 18 points below their season average. They also kept Hartford’s guards from penetrating.

“Our defense has been incredible the last four or five games,” Versyp said. “I knew they were going to be very athletic… We made sure that we forced the outside shot, because they are very good at finishing.”

UMaine, which committed 20 turnovers, withstood a brief Hartford rally early in the second half as the Hawks cut an 11-point halftime deficit to 36-30. The Bears clamped down defensively and began attacking on the offensive end.

Ernest scored five quick points on an offensive rebound and a conventional three-point play, igniting what would become a 19-6 scoring surge for the Bears.

With UMaine ahead 41-32, Guerrette hit a 3-pointer, but Hartford’s Johnson scored from inside. However, Veilleux converted a post move, Geraghty scored off a rebound, then Veilleux hit two foul shots as the Bears continued toward a 55-36 bulge with 9:54 left.

Hartford never got closer than 14 points after that.

“Offense, we’ve been struggling a little bit with that, but we need to stay consistent with our defense,” Veilleux said.

“They have a lot of quick players and what we needed to do was keep them in front and communicate, play great defense, then execute on the offensive end.”

UMaine set the tone in the first half with tight defense. The Bears outrebounded the Hawks 29-16 and limited Hartford to 32 percent shooting en route to a 31-20 halftime lead.

The hosts, though plagued by turnovers (13) in the face of Hartford’s effective man-to-man pressure, moved in front during a key four-minute stretch.

After struggling through a scoring drought of nearly seven minutes during which the Hawks built an 11-4 lead, the Bears turned the momentum with a sequence of defensive stops.

Black Bears 69, Hawks 47

Hartford (10-9) Maine (8-12)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Lloyd 2 5 0 0 4 Heon 3 5 8

Lopp 9 18 1 3 22 Ernest 7 12 1 16

Miller 1 5 0 1 2 Guerrette 1 3

Franks 1 2 0 2 2 Lopez 4 14 12

Eleazer 3 6 0 1 6 James 2 4 8

Austin 0 6 0 1 0 Moldre 0 0 0

Charles 0 0 0 0 0 Veilleux 4 12

Brickhouse 1 2 0 1 2 Geraghty 3 8

Pezzetta 0 0 0 0 0 Sobel 0 0 2

Whalen 1 7 0 0 2

Johnson 3 6 1 2 7

Totals 21 57 2 11 47 Totals 24 60 17 25 69

Hartford 21 47

Maine 30 69

3-pt. goals: Hartford (3-15): Lloyd 0-1, Lopp 3-5, Miller 0-3, Eleazer 0-1, Austin 0-3, Brickhouse 0-1, Whalen 0-1; Maine (4-11): Heon 0-1, Ernest 1-1, Guerrette 1-3, Lopez 0-2, Veilleux 2-3, Geraghty 0-1

Attendance: 3,760