ORONO – The University of Maine played outstanding defense Sunday afternoon against a talented Marquette ballclub.

The Golden Eagles’ 1-1-3 zone was just a little bit more effective against the Black Bears.

Marquette held UMaine scoreless during a pivotal 31/2-minute stretch of the second half and capitalized by scoring 11 unanswered points while grinding out a 57-49 victory in the championship game of the Dead River Co. Classic at Alfond Arena.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s Bears (2-2) frustrated the visitors much of the game with a cohesive 1-2-2 matchup zone, but the Golden Eagles (4-0) were finally able to get the ball inside late and ride the foul line to the championship.

“That was a halftime adjustment that we made, saying that we had to get the ball inside and we had to attack to try to make something happen,” said Marquette coach Terri Mitchell.

Marquette sophomore guard Carolyn Kieger earned tourney MVP honors, posting 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal in the title game. She was joined on the squad by teammate Christina Quaye, who had 12 points and five rebounds against the Bears.

UMaine placed seniors Melissa Heon (8 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocked shots) and Heather Ernest (12 pts., 5 rebs., 3 asst.) on the all-tourney team that also included Oakland’s Petra Manakova and Sue Altman of Columbia.

In the consolation game, Oakland University (Mich.) edged Columbia 64-59.

UMaine trailed most of the way, but appeared to turn the tide with a 13-2 second-half spurt. Missy Traversi scored five points and Heon added four as the Bears took a 43-36 lead with 8:37 left. They could not sustain the momentum.

Marquette finally broke the grip of the Bears’ zone, which had held the Golden Eagles without a field goal for seven minutes early in the half.

Paced by Jasmine McCullough’s six points, including a close-range basket, Marquette converted nine of 10 from the foul line while turning a six-point deficit into a 50-45 lead with 4:39 to play.

The Bears then were unable to negotiate the Marquette zone, which afforded them only one hoop from the paint in the second half.

“Basically, they play [the zone] so it seems like nothing’s open,” said Julie Veilleux of Augusta, who contributed 12 points and six rebounds.

UMaine could not get into any kind of rhythm. The 49 points were the fewest since a 65-44 loss at Vermont on Feb. 16, 2002.

“When we started doing well and we got the lead there for a bit, we were moving the ball great, we were penetrating,” Veilleux said. “We need to be the attacker and be the aggressor and they were more the aggressor at the end of the game.”

Traversi helped the Bears make a final bid, nailing a 3-pointer and making one of two from the foul line to cut the deficit to 50-49 with 3:39 left.

However, Kelly Schwerman (game-high 14 points) hit a wide-open 3-pointer and Kieger made a layup off a UMaine turnover 14 seconds later as Marquette pushed the lead to six with 1:22 to play.

The Bears didn’t score again.

“They’re a big team, but there’s a lot of openings and we didn’t knock down shots,” Versyp said. “This is obviously a very poor shooting effort.”

UMaine shot 32 percent from the floor as Marquette focused its attention on Ernest, who struggled for the second straight game, going 4-for-15.

“They did a really good job double-teaming and trapping and causing a lot of problems,” Ernest said. “It was very apparent that I had a lot of problems trying to put the ball in the basket today.”

Crystal Weaver added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Marquette.

Oakland 64, Columbia 59

(Consolation Game)

Oakland (1-3) 64

Hafeli 2-4-9, Tully 2-1-5, Manakova 5-0-10, Wilson 3-1-9, Batcha 2-4-8, Piggott 3-2-8, Holenka, Randolph 4-0-8, Baker 1-0-2, Yaksich 1-2-4, Longer 0-1-1

Columbia (2-2) 59

Chorney 2-5-9, Revell 2-0-4, Lesko 2-1-6, Altman 4-2-13, Jaschik 2-2-6, Schook 1-2-4, Griffith 1-3-5, Beato 0-2-2, Kern 0-1-1, Copeland 0-2-2, Key 3-1-7, Carey

3-pt. goals: Wilson 2, Hafeli; Altman 3, Lesko

Halftime: Oakland 32-22

GOLDEN EAGLES 57, BLACK BEARS 49

Marquette (4-0) Maine (2-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Kieger 4 10 1 2 11 Heon 4 11 8

Kamm 1 6 1 2 4 Ernest 4 15 2 12

Schwerman 3 10 5 6 14 Jay 0 0 0

Quaye 6 16 0 0 12 Corbitt 1 8 2

Weaver 3 7 4 5 10 Veilleux 5 11 1 2 12

O’Grady 1 3 0 2 2 Traversi 2 9

Osagie 0 1 2 2 2 Underwood 0 2

Juedes 1 2 0 0 2 Hugstd-Vaa 0 0

Frede 0 0 0 0 0 Whittier 0 0

McCullough 0 0 0 0 0 Gay 0 0 0

Shouse 0 1 0 0 0 Barker 0 1 0

Peterson 0 2 0

Schrader 1 1 4

Totals 19 56 13 19 57 17 54 10 15 49

Marquette 25 57

Maine 23 49

3-pt. goals ? Marquette (6-19): Schwerman 3-8, Kieger 2-4, Kamm 1-4, Weaver 0-1, O’Grady 0-1, Juedes 0-1; Maine (5-20): Ernest 2-5, Traversi 2-3, Veilleux 1-5, Heon 0-3, Corbitt 0-2, Underwood 0-1, Barker 0-1

Attendance: 2,002