PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Brown University limited the University of Maine to five points during the last 10 minutes of action Saturday while posting a 55-46 women’s basketball victory at Pizzitola Sports Center.

The Black Bears (4-8) held a seven point lead with 10:17 remaining, but were outscored 21-5 the rest of the way.

It was the last nonleague game of the season for coach Ann McInerney’s squad, which returns to action Wednesday night with an America East game against Albany in Orono.

Brown, a member of the Ivy League, improved to 5-6.

UMaine struggled in a couple of key areas against the hosts.

First, the Black Bears were unable to find anybody to step up consistently at the offensive end. UMaine had good balance, with eight players in the scoring column, but Abby Schrader’s nine points represented the top effort.

Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor managed only eight points on 4-for-14 shooting and eight rebounds, while freshman Colleen Kilmurray added seven points.

UMaine’s offensive struggles were evident as it registered only 11 assists on the afternoon.

The Black Bears also struggled in the rebounding department despite having a decided height advantage. Brown grabbed a 43-28 edge, including 17 rebounds at the offensive end.

UMaine committed a season-low 11 turnovers.

Sarah Hayes paced Brown with 20 points and 10 rebounds, while Colleen Kelly tossed in 19 points, including four 3-pointers.

Brown led 30-29 at halftime but UMaine, which had trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, came out and controlled the action early in the second half.

Down 34-33, the Black Bears held the visitors scoreless for a span of 71/2 minutes while regaining the lead. Kilmurray opened UMaine’s series of eight unanswered points with a layup, then Schrader and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa each scored from the paint.

Margaret Elderton’s layup at the 10:17 mark gave the Black Bears a 41-34 edge.

However, Brown answered with a determined stretch run. The hosts clamped down, limiting UMaine to 1-for-11 shooting over the last 10 minutes. The Black Bears also went 2-for-6 from the foul line and committed three turnovers during that span.

Brown began to regain the momentum after Kelly made the first of two free throws and missed the second but nailed a 3-pointer after an Ashley King-Bischof rebound to get the hosts within one at 41-40 with 8:36 left.

Megan McCahill’s layup with 4:58 remaining eventually gave Brown the lead for good at 46-44.

The contest featured 17 lead changes.

BEARS 55, BLACK BEARS 46

Maine (4-8) Brown (5-6)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Whittier 3 6 0 1 6 Schaper 0 3 0

Barker 4 14 0 0 8 McAfee 1 10 2

Schrader 3 8 3 4 9 O’Neal 0 5 0

Underwod 1 8 4 4 6 Kelly 6 11 19

Elderton 2 6 0 0 5 Hayes 9 14 20

Younan 0 2 1 2 1 Ehrhart 1 2 2

Hugstd-Va 2 2 0 2 4 Kng-Bishf 4 10

Bryant 0 0 0 0 0 Barr 0 1 0

Bowen 0 0 0 0 0 McCahill 1 2

Kilmurray 3 4 0 0 7 Goldbarg 0 0

Totals 18 50 8 13 46 Totals 22 57 11 55

Maine 29 46

Brown 30 55

3-pt. goals – Maine (2-15): Barker 0-4, Underwood 0-5, Elderton 1-4, Kilmurray 1-2; Brown (4-16): Schaper 0-1, McAfee 0-4, O’Neal 0-1, Kelly 4-8, King-Bischof 0-1, McCahill 0-1

Attendance: 539