ORONO – With 8:17 left in the first half Saturday night, the University of Maine women’s basketball team trailed by 19 points and appeared to be in serious trouble.

Before the half was over, the resilient Black Bears had regained the momentum and their collective confidence.

UMaine responded to the first-half funk with an emotional surge of its own, then carried its spirited play into the second half on the way to a 77-70 America East victory over Vermont at Alfond Arena.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s 6-6 Black Bears improved to 2-0 in league play with a gritty performance in front of 2,315 fans.

“All of a sudden, we got that energy and passion and that hard work and everything just started coming back,” Versyp said. “If we don’t play with heart and a lot of passion and with that emotion, we’re not a great team.”

In spite of its early defensive woes, UMaine shot 52 percent in the first half and 47 percent for the game while grabbing a 37-31 rebounding advantage.

Senior Monica Peterson led an unselfish effort for UMaine with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Ashley Underwood of Benton hit four 3-pointers on her way to 14 points.

Kim Corbitt contributed 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals, and Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor added 12 points and four assists.

Chrissy Battram paced Vermont (5-6 overall, 1-1 AE) with 21 points. Lani Boardman of York netted 12 points and handed out six assists, while Alexis Castro and Katie McNamara added 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Vermont dismantled the UMaine defense during a 41/2-minute span of the first half. Spearheaded by Battram’s 11 points, the Catamounts rattled off 20 unanswered points.

Vermont, which made its first six 3-pointers, nailed four during the spurt that gave it a 33-14 lead at the 8:17 mark.

“They were just hitting everything and we really didn’t have a hand in their face, so it was kind of easy to hit everything,” Peterson said.

“We had a nice little motivational speech by coach in the timeout, then we came out and just decided to take it every minute at a time,” she added.

The catalyst for the Bears’ turnaround was freshman guard Margaret Elderton, who came off the bench and hit a 3-pointer to halt the scoring drought of five minutes, 44 seconds.

“I think the biggest thing is that we needed to knock down a shot,” Versyp said. “We were on 14 [points] forever. She steps up and knocks down that 3, all of a sudden you feel like the deficit’s cut in half.”

Elderton finished with six points and four assists.

After Ashleigh Cuncic answered with a 3-pointer for the Catamounts, the Bears really got into a groove.

Underwood opened what would be a 16-0 spurt with a 3-pointer. Corbitt made an 8-footer from the baseline, Peterson fed Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa [six points, five rebounds] for a layup in transition, and Underwood connected again from long range, making it 36-27 and eliciting a Vermont timeout.

“As soon as our shots didn’t fall, [they] came back and Maine was just the better team,” said UVM coach Sharon Dawley. “We were up by [19] and when they got within eight, we just felt like the momentum was totally Maine.”

The Bears’ energized man-to-man defense and transition attack continued to shine, paving the way for Corbitt’s driving layup, a close-range hoop by Hugstad-Vaa, and Barker’s baseline move that cut the deficit to 36-33 with 1:45 left.

Vermont led 40-36 at intermission, but by then UMaine’s confidence had been restored.

The hosts opened the second half by holding the Catamounts scoreless for four minutes. That led to a 9-0 scoring run that gave the Bears a 45-40 lead.

“We had the momentum coming out of halftime,” Corbitt said. “We came out the first four minutes and did a great job, made some easy shots, and that made the basket a lot bigger for us.”

UMaine led by as many as nine points in the second half, but UVM had a chance to tie it. Trailing 66-63 with 2:45 to play, Castro missed a 3-pointer and Peterson rebounded and was fouled.

The Bears executed well down the stretch and made nine of their last 10 foul shots to preserve the victory.

BLACK BEARS 77, CATAMOUNTS 70

Vermont (5-6) Maine (6-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cuncic 2 3 2 2 7 Traversi 2 6

Battram 7 14 3 3 21 Underwood 4 10 2 2 14

Boardman 4 16 3 3 12 Corbitt 5 6 13

Spinka 1 5 0 0 3 Barker 3 9 12

McNamara 4 9 0 0 10 Peterson 7 12 6 6 20

Sabourin 0 0 0 0 0 Hugstad-Va 2 6

Cross 0 2 6 6 6 Elderton 2 6

Trott 0 0 0 0 0 Schrader 0 0

Castro 5 11 1 2 11

Totals 23 60 15 16 70 Totals 25 53 20 23 77

Vermont 40 70

Maine 36 77

3-pt. goals – Vermont (9-14): Cuncic 1-2, Battram 4-5, Boardman 1-2, Spinka 1-2, McNamara 2-2, Castro 0-1; Maine (7-13): Traversi 0-2, Underwood 4-7, Barker 1-2, Elderton 2-2

Attendance: 2,315