ORONO – The University of Maine women’s basketball team had an opportunity to make up a little ground in the America East standings Thursday night.

Boston University refused to let it happen.

The Terriers held the Black Bears scoreless for the final 3-plus minutes, scoring seven unanswered points while eking out a 61-54 victory in front of 2,200-plus fans at Alfond Arena.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s team, which had a chance to take sole possession of fourth place, slips to 11-14 overall, 8-8 in conference play. UMaine remains tied with Northeastern (12-13, 8-8) for fourth in America East.

Ninth-place Boston University improved to 8-17 and 5-11, respectively.

Now, the Bears need a win over Northeastern Saturday to avoid slipping into fifth or sixth place.

“[The loss] hurts me, I hope it hurts them,” Versyp said of her players. “We lost a great opportunity tonight. Other people lost in the league where we could have really taken care of business if we win two home games.”

Sophomore forward Anna James paced UMaine, tying a career high with 16 points. She grabbed five rebounds. Freshman Heather Ernest of Temple contributed 15 hard-earned points, pulled down 11 rebounds and made four steals.

However, she struggled against BU’s interior defense.

“They’re really good at blocking shots and really getting in your face,” said UMaine senior co-captain Kizzy Lopez. “They played good defense in the post, but we weren’t executing on offense, so it was a mixture of things.”

Melissa Heon, who held Terriers freshman standout Katie Terhune to nine points, scored nine first-half points for the Bears.

“I knew that they would attack us inside, so we really worked on our [2-3] zone and I didn’t think that they could shoot us out of the zone,” said BU coach Margaret McKeon.

Freshman forward Marisa Moseley took advantage of the defensive attention paid to teammate Alison Dixon, scoring a game-high 17 points, including 13 in the second half, to go with eight rebounds and five blocked shots. Dixon finished with 12 points and eight boards, while Annie Tomasini chipped in with 10 points.

“[BU] did play very good defense and they were very physical,” Versyp said. “Our kids just need to tougher and stronger.”

The Terriers shot 44 percent from the field, while the Bears struggled to a 30-percent effort.

The seesaw game wasn’t decided until the final 41/2 minutes, when UMaine faded. The Bears, who appeared fatigued in the late going, committed six of their 16 turnovers during that span. The hosts committed four consecutive turnovers and missed two shots on their last six possessions.

“We just weren’t executing as a team. We weren’t doing things well, and that’s why [we lost],” said Lopez, whose 14-footer off the glass had tied the game at 54-54 with 3:29 to play.

UMaine wouldn’t score again.

The key possession came with less than a minute to play and the shot clock running down on the Terriers. Tomasini drove into the paint and threw in a 10-foot runner to put BU ahead 56-54 with 50 seconds left.

After a UMaine turnover, Courtney Jones was fouled and made both ends of the double bonus with 31 seconds to play. Terhune rebounded Tracy Guerrette’s missed 3-pointer at the other end and was fouled. She made one of two from the line to give BU a five-point edge.

James had converted two conventional three-point plays 53 seconds apart to stake UMaine to a 49-42 lead with 8:22 remaining.

Undaunted, the Terriers came back as Moseley scored twice from close range, Dixon got loose inside and Terhune made two free throws during an 8-0 spurt that gave BU a 50-49 lead with 5:56 left.

The Bears, who already had gone scoreless for 21/2 minutes, scored only five points the rest of the way.

UMaine led by as many as 11 points during the first half thanks to some solid defense, but BU had scratched its way back within 30-29 at halftime.

The first half was a virtual draw, with the Bears holding a 30-29 lead at the break.

UMaine led by as many as 11 points, but was unable to get their post players involved in the offense consistently. BU’s inside size and strength made life difficult for the Bears underneath.

The Bears played strong defense most of the half, but suffered by occasionally letting the Terriers’ perimeter players have open shots.

Terriers 61, Black Bears 54

Boston University (8-17) Maine (11-14)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Jones 2 4 4 4 9 Heon 2 7 3 9

Dixon 6 12 0 0 12 Ernest 5 15 5 15

Moseley 6 12 5 6 17 Guerrette 1 5 3

Terhune 2 9 5 6 9 Lopez 1 11 1 3

Dufault 0 2 0 0 0 James 7 15 2 16

Argentieri 0 1 0 0 0 Moldre 0 1 1

Nelson 2 2 0 0 4 Veilleux 1 4 2

Tomasini 4 8 0 0 10 Geraghty 2 5

Totals 22 50 14 16 61 19 63 12 16 54

Boston University 29 61

Maine 30 54

3-pt. goals: BU (3-10): Tomasini 2-4, Jones 1-2, Terhune 0-3, Argentieri; Maine (4-14): Heon 2-5, Guerrette 1-5, Geraghty 1-1, Lopez 0-3

Attendance: 2,260