ORONO – Abby Schrader had already played the game of her life Wednesday night when, with 22.8 seconds left, coach Ann McInerney put her senior center back into the game – as a decoy.

With the Black Bears clinging to a one-point lead and the shot clock winding down, Schrader had no choice but to shoot from the left wing – from 22 feet out.

Schrader nailed her first career 3-pointer, punctuating a career-best 30-point performance that lifted UMaine to a 69-66 America East women’s basketball victory over Boston University at Alfond Arena.

“I think the shot clock was at four. No one was on me,” said Schrader, who had injured her right ankle while grabbing a rebound with 1:00 left and was still limping. “It was a great game. We played together. We played Maine basketball tonight, which was amazing to see.”

With the conference tournament eight days away, the Bears (9-17, 5-10 AE) showed signs they may be peaking at the right time.

“That was a huge shot,” BU coach Kelly Greenberg said of Schrader’s 3-pointer. “Good for her. She’s a hard worker and she deserved it, and I’m sure she’s enjoying every minute of it right now.”

UMaine remains tied for eighth place with Vermont (5-10), which also won Wednesday and owns the tiebreaker against the Bears. Third-place Boston University slipped to 16-10, 9-6 in league play.

“I want to say how proud I am of these kids,” McInerney said. “Tonight they showed how far they’ve come, exactly how much character they do have, putting together a full 40 minutes.”

Schrader was virtually unstoppable, going 10-for-16 from the field and 9-for-11 from the foul line. She grabbed nine rebounds and had three assists, playing 35 minutes.

“We needed that from her, the senior,” said junior Ashley Underwood of Benton. “We knew it was going to be that kind of night. We just had to pound the ball inside.”

Junior Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor tossed in 20 points, pulled down six rebounds, and made four steals, while classmate Underwood contributed 10 points and five assists.

Boston University placed five players in double figures, led by 16 from freshman Jesyka Burks-Wiley, 15 from Erica Kovach, and 12 apiece by Rachael Vanderwal and Cheri Raffo.

The Bears outrebounded the Terriers 38-31 and outscored them 19-12 from the foul line.

Wednesday’s game was one of alternating scoring runs and BU appeared to take charge with a 7-0 spurt that gave it a 64-59 lead with 3:16 to play. The Terriers had trailed by as many as nine points, but rode the determined guard play of Katie Meinhardt (11 points) and Vanderwal back to the lead.

UMaine, which has suffered its share of late-game struggles with a limited lineup, demonstrated its resolve.

Underwood halted BU’s momentum with a 3-pointer at the 2:05 mark, then Barker sank two foul shots and Schrader one to give the hosts a 65-64 lead with a minute to play.

BU came up empty on its next possession when Meinhardt missed a short jumper and Burks-Wiley rebounded, only to be tied up alertly by Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa to give the ball back to UMaine with 41.9 seconds remaining.

The Bears worked the ball around briefly, then called the timeout that led to Schrader’s unexpected heroics.

“She’s not kidding. She was a decoy on that out-of-bounds play,” McInerney said. “The ball got reversed to her and she came up with probably the biggest shot of the season.”

The Terriers closed the gap to 68-66 on Burks-Wiley’s move in the paint with 4.1 left, then fouled on the inbounds pass. Hugstad-Vaa made the first of two from the line, and Meinhardt rebounded the miss. Her half-court shot hit high off the backboard as time expired.

The night belonged to Schrader.

“Her season is winding down, her career’s winding down, and she told the team two days ago in practice she promised that she was going to step up and get the job done, and she surely proved that tonight,” McInerney said.

BLACK BEARS 69, TERRIERS 66

Boston U. (16-10) Maine (9-17)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Devine 1 2 0 0 2 Hgstd-Va 1 7

Kovach 5 12 1 2 13 Barker 7 10 20

Kinneary 0 2 0 0 0 Schrader 10 16 9 11 30

Raffo 5 13 1 1 12 Underwd 4 11 10

Vanderwal 4 11 3 4 12 Elderton 0 0

Dini 0 0 0 0 0 Younan 1 2 0 2

Meinhardt 4 9 3 4 11 Bowen 0 2 0

Petranoff 0 0 0 0 0 Kilmurray 0 0

Burks-Wily 5 12 4 4 16

Totals 24 61 12 15 66 Totals 23 49 19 23 69

Boston University 30 66

Maine 34 69

3-pt. goals – Boston University (6-23): Burks-Wiley 2-4, Kovach 2-7, Raffo 1-5, Vanderwal 1-3, Meinhardt 0-3, Kinneary 0-1; Maine (4-10): Underwood 2-3, Schrader 1-1, Barker 1-3, Elderton 0-1, Bowen 0-2

Attendance: 1,438