ORONO – Bracey Barker had another double-figure scoring night. Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa recorded a career-high in assists. The University of Maine women’s basketball won its seventh straight opener at home.

The most encouraging sign for the Black Bears in their 66-46 win over William & Mary, however, may have been the number of Maine players who made significant contributions Saturday night at Alfond Arena.

The Bears showed off a well-rounded effort, limiting the Tribe on the defensive end while turning in a strong offensive performance. Bar Harbor’s Barker paced Maine with 16 points, seven rebounds and four assists, followed by 13 points from Katie Whittier of New Gloucester.

Meanwhile, 10 Black Bears played in the first half alone.

“I think it’s a team concept that we’re trying to develop,” Maine coach Ann McInerney said. “We have star players. We also count on our seniors to carry the team, to show the younger kids what it takes to win at this level, and they have been tremendous in their efforts.”

The Bears also distributed the ball well with 20 assists on 25 field goals. Senior Hugstad-Vaa had a game-high six assists, surpassing her previous career high of three, as the Bears went to a high-low game.

She assisted on two straight Maine possessions, both of which went inside to Whittier on high-low plays, to help spark a 9-0 run in the first half as the Bears were able to work inside against a variety of William & Mary zone defenses.

“We tried to look for that because there were a lot of gaps in their zone,” Hugstad-Vaa said.

Hugstad-Vaa might have started Saturday if not for the improving health of senior guard Ashley Underwood of Benton.

“I think it’s a credit to her and the team game that she wanted to play because I think she did exactly what our intention was,” McInerney said. “She came off the bench and she was a big sparkplug, worked the high-low, rebounded, [and] defensively continued to keep the pressure on [Tribe standout Kyla Kaylor] when both Katie and Bracey got into foul trouble.”

Hugstad-Vaa’s feeds inside helped Maine stay close as William & Mary earned frequent trips to the free-throw line. Kaylor, the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year last season, was 7-for-8 from the line and the Tribe hit 13 of 14 in the half.

Kaylor scored nine points in the first half thanks to her free-throw shooting, but was scoreless in the second half. She went 1-for-10 from the field.

Kaylor has been limited by an Achilles’ tendon injury – Tribe coach Debbie Taylor said her mobility was “awful” – but credited Maine’s offense for picking apart their defense.

“We played two different zones, we played man, and I was saying to my staff no matter what we’re in they’re finding a way to get easy looks,” Taylor said. “They’re very patient on offense. … They make you play defense for a long time until you make mistakes.”

The Black Bears wanted to limit Kaylor from getting off too many shots.

“Our objective was to not let her shoot the 3,” Hugstad-Vaa said, “… and then don’t help too much on penetrating from the guards, try to stay on her, play tough ‘D’ and push her out of the paint. I think she got frustrated at the beginning.”

Maine took advantage of four straight William & Mary turnovers early in the second half and used a 7-0 run capped by a Barker 3-pointer for a 16-point lead with 13:52 left. The Tribe had 23 turnovers in the game.

“I think our defense definitely sparks our offense,” Hugstad-Vaa said. “When we play really intense defense it gets everyone really pumped up.”

Devin James led William & Mary with 15 points and 11 rebounds, part of the Tribe’s 42-34 edge on the boards.

BLACK BEARS 66, TRIBE 46

William & Mary (0-1) Maine (1-0)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

James 5 14 5 5 15 Whittier 6 12 1 2 13

Kaylor 1 10 7 8 9 Barker 7 13 16

Tausnvtch 0 3 4 4 4 Underwd 1 6 6

Stroh 1 2 0 2 3 Greene 2 6 6

Kell 2 9 0 0 6 Tewksbry 2 4 6

Portell 0 0 0 0 0 Younan 1 1 3

Barton 2 5 0 0 5 Baker 1 1 2

Neumer 0 0 0 0 0 Colon 3 3 8

Benson 2 5 0 0 4 HgstdVaa 2 4

Aadland 0 3 0 0 0 Boser 0 0 2

Bowen 0 2 0 0

Kilmurray 0 1 0

Vaituke 0 4 0 0

Bratishko 0 0 0

Totals 13 51 16 19 46 Totals 25 58 10 16 66

William & Mary 27 46

Maine 34 66

3-pt. goals – William & Mary (4-15): Kell 2-6, Stroh 1-2, Barton 1-4, James 0-1, Kaylor 0-1, Aadland 0-1; Maine (6-17): Barker 2-4, Greene 2-6, Underwood 1-4, Younan 1-1, Bowen 0-1, Kilmurray 0-1