ORONO – As it turns out, the University of Maine women’s basketball team had an opportunity Saturday to avoid the America East tournament play-in game.

As has been the case all season, the Black Bears weren’t able to capitalize.

Stony Brook went into Alfond Arena and mauled UMaine with its rough style Saturday afternoon on the way to an 84-70 victory in the regular-season finale for both teams.

“It was on the keys to the game, do not be thrown off by their physicalness,” said UMaine coach Ann McInerney. “They’re very aggressive. They’re going to make you work for every basket, every point, every shot that you take.”

UMaine takes a 9-18 record into Thursday’s 7 p.m. play-in game against No. 9 Albany (7-20). The winner faces top-seeded host Hartford (23-3) in Friday’s 6 p.m. quarterfinal.

Stony Brook (19-8, 12-4 AE), which is 24th in the most recent Rating Percentage Index (RPI), earned the No. 2 seed and plays No. 7 Vermont (9-17).

“I don’t think we did a very good job of rising to the challenge and kind of went back on our heels,” said UMaine junior Bracey Barker. “We didn’t come out with the fire which we had in the last game.”

The Bears hung around much of the way, but weren’t able to stop the Seawolves during the last nine minutes.

Barker, of Bar Harbor, was plagued by foul trouble and played only 20 minutes, finishing with 15 points. Senior center Abby Schrader, who poured in 30 points in Wednesday’s win over Boston University, was limited to two points on 1-for-7 shooting.

“It’s really hard to guard her one-on-one, so we got help from other people,” said Stony Brook coach Maura McHugh. “It was pretty much a team effort as far as the post defense went.”

Junior Ashley Underwood of Benton sparked UMaine with a career-high 24 points and six assists, while classmate Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa helped give the Bears a post presence while scoring a career-best 14 points, grabbing a team- and career-high nine rebounds and blocking three shots.

Despite playing without all-conference guard and leading scorer Mykeema Ford [undisclosed illness], the Seawolves had plenty of offensive firepower. Leah Getz got the start and led Stony Brook with 19 points, six assists and five steals.

The visitors placed five players in double figures while shooting 50 percent for the game, 65 percent (15-for-23) in the second half. Dana Ferraro netted 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help SBU earn a 34-24 edge on the boards.

Sidney Orndorff and Farah Vazquez-Jacobo tallied 13 points each and Jessica Smith added 12.

“Our defense was barely there,” Barker said. “We didn’t have any rotation.”

UMaine trailed only 57-54 after a Barker 3-pointer with 8:11 remaining, but the Seawolves began to pull away.

Smith scored off a nice low-post move, then Getz made two foul shots and a driving layup that pushed SBU’s advantage to 63-54 with 5:57 to play. The Bears came up empty on two possessions, one on a turnover, during that critical span and never got closer than six after that.

UMaine was unable to stop SBU from getting the ball inside for high-percentage shots and allowed 12 offensive rebounds. That resulted in a 34-18 edge in the paint for the visitors.

“I think [failing] to keep them off the offensive boards hurt us, because they have so many weapons that can get the job done,” McInerney said.

UMaine senior Katie Whittier of New Gloucester returned to action after missing five weeks with a stress fracture. She played only nine minutes, scoring two points.

SEAWOLVES 84, BLACK BEARS 70

Stony Brook (19-8) Maine (9-18)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Ferraro 5 7 6 7 16 Hgstd-Va 2 10 13

Boylan 0 4 0 0 0 Barker 6 11 15

Smith 4 10 4 4 12 Schrader 1 2

Orndorff 5 10 2 2 13 Undrwod 6 14 10 24

Getz 5 6 8 10 19 Elderton 2 3 7

Vzqz-Jcbo 4 5 5 9 13 Younan 1 1 3

Watson 3 10 2 4 9 Whittier 1 2

Davis 0 0 2 2 2 Bowen 2 5 4

Kilmurray 0 0 0

Totals 26 52 29 38 84 Totals 21 48 21 25 70

Stony Brook 33 84

Maine 34 70

3-pt. goals – SBU (3-11): Boylan 0-2, Orndorff 1-2, Getz 1-1, Watson 1-6; Maine (7-13): Barker 3-5, Underwood 3-4, Elderton 1-2, Whittier 0-1, Bowen 0-1

Attendance: 3,182