WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The University of Maine women’s basketball team was hoping Thursday night for a strong performance to carry it into next week’s America East Championship.

Instead, the Black Bears will need to regroup.

Hartford broke open a tight game with a momentous 14-0 second-half run Thursday, lifting the Hawks to a 66-51 victory over the Bears at Chase Family Arena.

In spite of the loss, coach Sharon Versyp’s UMaine squad wrapped up the No. 4 tournament seed and will face the same fifth-seeded Hartford team in Thursday’s noon quarterfinal at Burlington, Vt.

The Bears wind up the regular season 12-15 overall, 9-9 in conference play. The Hawks improved to 14-13 and also posted a 9-9 league mark.

UMaine suffered through one extended, second-half defensive lapse and failed to execute on the offensive end while allowing Hartford to gain the upper hand. Even a postgame hug from longtime friend and ESPN basketball analyst Digger Phelps couldn’t take away the sting of the loss for Versyp.

“It’s to the point of our season where five of our eight have to perform well,” said Versyp, who described her team as selfish. “They didn’t execute. They bailed out [of the offense]. When we got behind, people wanted to try to do it themselves rather than just staying within the offense.”

Hartford’s tenacious man-to-man defense made it difficult for the Bears to execute consistently and forced UMaine out of its sets and into numerous unwanted shots.

“They had great pressure and we started playing individually, so we weren’t sure when the ball was going to go up, we had no offensive rebounds, and they were pushing it down the floor,” Versyp said.

Junior point guard Tracy Guerrette of St. Agatha didn’t make any excuses about Thursday’s lackluster effort.

“I’m disappointed in both the way I played and the way we played as a team,” Guerrette said. “I take responsibility for not controlling the team. We were frustrated and we weren’t executing.”

Ellen Geraghty paced the spotty UMaine offense with 13 points, while Heather Ernest of Temple finished with 10. Julie Veilleux of Augusta contributed eight points and a game-high 10 rebounds while Anna James added eight points and six rebounds. Guerrette grabbed eight rebounds.

Janeka Lopp poured in 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half to lead the way for Hartford, which shot 48 percent from the field after intermission. Dorcas Miller tossed in 18 points for the Hawks.

UMaine outrebounded Hartford 44-35, but the Hawks’ defense prevented the Bears from establishing any offensive consistency, holding UMaine to 29 percent shooting (9-for-31) in the second half.

The Bears committed 19 turnovers.

Eight minutes into the second half, with the Bears leading 37-32, the momentum swung quickly in favor of Hartford. Miller buried a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to ignite a 14-0 flurry for the hosts.

Kenitra Johnson scored twice from the paint and Lopp added three points as the Hawks turned a five-point deficit into a 46-37 advantage with 8:41 remaining. UMaine went scoreless for 4 minutes, 40 seconds during the Hartford surge.

“We have some really good one-on-one defenders on the ball,” said Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti. “Part of our strategy is to try to make the other guards’ life miserable. I said, let’s make them have to do something they’re not used to doing. I thought our kids really responded.”

Lopp later hit another 3-pointer and scored seven points amidst a 9-0 burst that pushed Hartford’s lead to 56-41 with 5:05 to play.

The Bears weren’t able to close the gap as the Hawks played patiently down the stretch and forced UMaine to foul.

Defense dictated the first-half action, as neither team was able to take the upper hand for more than two possessions at a time. The Bears led by as many as six, but clung to a 27-24 halftime lead.

Pride 66, Black Bears 51

Maine (12-15) Hartford (14-13)

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

Ernest 5 11 0 0 10 Lopp 8 15 3 21

James 3 5 2 2 8 Johnson 4 11 0 8

Heon 1 4 0 0 2 Lloyd 0 2 2 2

Guerrette 0 4 0 0 0 Miller 6 12 18

Lopez 3 12 2 2 8 Eleazer 2 8 0 4

Moldre 0 0 2 2 2 Austin 1 2 1 3

Veilleux 3 8 2 2 8 Charles 1 1 2

Geraghty 4 12 5 6 13 Brickhouse 0 0

Pezzetta 0 1 1

Murray 0 1 0 0

Scott 0 0 2 2

Franks 1 2 1 3

Whalen 1 4 0 2

Totals 19 56 13 14 51 24 59 13 20 66

Maine 24 51

Hartford 27 66

3-pt. goals: Maine (0-7): Heon 0-1, Guerrette 0-1, Lopez 0-3, Veilleux 0-1, Geraghty 0-1; Hartford (5-12): Lopp 2-2, Miller 3-4, Austin 0-1, Whalen 0-3, Pezzetta 0-1, Murray 0-1