DURHAM, N.H. – University of Maine guard Melissa Heon enjoyed a triumphant homecoming by leading her Black Bears to a 68-65 America East women’s basketball victory over the University of New Hampshire Tuesday night.

Heon was the game’s top scorer and the Bears’ catalyst, especially down the stretch as she assisted on Monica Peterson’s basket with 1:52 left to get Maine within a point of the ‘Cats at 63-62, and then went 4-for-4 from the line in the final 24 seconds to provide the winning margin. Heon, a native of nearby Somersworth, was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line.

“Rebounding and free throws were crucial to us tonight,” said Maine coach Sharon Versyp. “We had 10 offensive boards and we probably scored on seven of them.”

Maine outrebounded the Wildcats 40-35 overall and canned 23 of 25 foul shots in the game.

Heon, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard, started her 24-point scoring spree by canning three 3-pointers in the first 101/2 minutes.

“Her 3’s were big for us and it was nice that Melissa was able to be the catalyst for us tonight,” said Maine coach Sharon Versyp. “She played 40 minutes and there was no way I was going to take her out. For her to knock down those shots early, she really helped open things up for us.”

The Wildcats were held to just one basket in the final three minutes as the Black Bears played smart team defense all game.

“We switched it up quite a bit with man and zone,” Versyp said. “We had a lot of different zones, and when Eva came out, we went man.”

Ironically, the Bears were held scoreless in the first five minutes of the second half, when UNH went on a 7-0 scoring run.

“Yeah, I guess our timing was just better than theirs,” Versyp said with a slight chuckle.

The win moves the Bears into fourth place in America East with an 8-6 mark. A loss would have dropped Maine, now 15-10 overall, into sixth place.

“It was a very important win,” Versyp said. “To win on the road is always huge, and UNH is a good team.”

Sophomore forward Heather Ernest of Farmington finished with 17 points and nine rebounds while senior center Eva Moldre led the Bears with 10 boards.

BLACK BEARS 68, WILDCATS 65

Maine women (15-10) New Hampshire (13-11)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ernest 3 8 11 13 17 Livingston 3 10

Veilleux 1 5 0 0 2 Danen 2 6 6

Moldre 4 5 0 0 8 M. Matthias 5 11 2 7 12

Heon 5 11 10 10 24 Mullen 2 6 0 5

Traversi 1 6 0 0 2 Plencner 2 12 1 1 6

Guerrette 1 3 0 0 3 Caschera 1 3

Jay 0 1 0 0 0 Proctor 3 5 0 7

Corbitt 3 5 2 2 8 A. Matthias 3 10

Peterson 2 6 0 0 4 Adams 2 5 6

Jarvis 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 50 23 25 68 23 59 10 21 65

3-pt. goals: Maine (5-10): Heon 4-5, Guerrette 1-3, Traversi 0-2; UNH (9-22): Livingston 2-6, A.Matthias 2-2 Danen 1-3, Mullen 1-3, Plencner 1-5, Caschera 1-1, Proctor 1-1

Halftime: Maine 34, UNE 34

Attendance: 1,089