MINNEAPOLIS – Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor scored six unanswered points to ignite a pivotal 7-0 scoring spurt in the late going that lifted the University of the Maine to a 69-63 women’s basketball victory over Princeton in the consolation game of the University of Minnesota’s Subway Classic.

Barker finished with a team-high 21 points, grabbed seven rebounds and provided three steals, two blocked shots and an assist Sunday as the Black Bears bounced back from an 87-60 loss to Middle Tennessee State in Saturday’s first-round contest.

“I think Bracey Barker proved why she is the player she is,” said UMaine coach Ann McInerney. “She scored, defended, rebounded and had a good, strong effort today.”

UMaine (2-1) returns to Orono to host the annual Dead River Co. Classic Friday and Saturday at Alfond Arena.

McInerney was pleased with how her team bounced back after Saturday’s setback.

“When play in a tournament like this, you have to have amnesia,” McInerney said. “I think we watched the film [Saturday] night and made some adjustments from what we saw.”

Ashley Underwood of Benton continued her comeback from a stress fracture in her leg, contributing a season-high 15 points along with six assists and two steals.

Freshman guard Amanda Tewksbury netted nine points and classmate Tiffany Colon posted eight points and eight rebounds. Senior Katie Whittier of New Gloucester finished with eight points and seven rebounds, Kris Younan added seven points and frosh point guard Abby Greene dished out four assists and did not commit a turnover.

“It was great teamwork,” McInerney said. “I think down the stretch we showed a lot of poise.”

Casey Lockwood tossed in 21 points for Princeton (1-2), which received 18 points and 13 rebounds from Meagan Cowher, daughter of Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher.

The Bears shot 41 percent from the field and outrebounded the Tigers 50-35.

A Lockwood jumper had given Princeton, the favorite this season in the Ivy League, a 55-53 lead with 4:02 to play. That’s when Barker put the Bears on her shoulders.

Barker tied the game for the 11th time by hitting a jumper with 3:36 left. She gave UMaine the lead with two free throws at the 2:47 mark, then took an Underwood feed and scored again to make it 59-55 with 2:02 remaining.

Underwood hit a foul shot with 1:26 left after another Princeton miss to give the Bears a five-point advantage.

The Tigers eventually got within two on a Caitlin O’Neill 3-pointer with 40 seconds to play, but Younan made two free throws, Colon came up with a steal and Barker hit two more foul shots to push the lead back to six with 29 seconds left.

“We said it was going be dogfight and it went back and forth the whole game,” McInerney said. “Down the stretch we got big defensive stops, got some big defensive rebounds.”

In Saturday’s game, Middle Tennessee broke the game open with a 23-5 first-half scoring surge on its way to victory.

UMaine managed only 16 field-goal attempts in the first half, committed nine turnovers and was outrebounded 30-9 as the Blue Raiders built a 47-26 halftime advantage.

Amber Holt scored nine of her 23 points during the decisive run and Chrissy Givens netted six of her 23 points to help spark the run that put the game out of reach early.

“That’s probably one of, if not the best, team we’ll face all year,” McInerney said. “We were just outmatched.”

MTSU’s game-breaking scoring surge lasted nearly 61/2 minutes. During that span, UMaine committed five turnovers and managed only five free throws, three by Younan.

The Bears wound up going 11 minutes, 28 seconds between field goals, with Underwood finally breaking the slump by hitting a jumper with eight seconds to play in the half.

Johnna Abney and Starr Orr chipped in with 12 points each for the winners.

Givens contributed 13 rebounds and six assists in the contest for MTSU, which emerged with a commanding 48-24 rebounding margin. The Blue Raiders also made 12 3-pointers.

Barker led UMaine with 15 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots. Younan tallied a career-best 13 points while Minnesota native Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa and Underwood added eight and seven points, respectively.

The Bears finished with 20 turnovers.

BLUE RAIDERS 87, BLACK BEARS 60

(Saturday Afternoon)

Maine (1-1) Middle Tenn. (1-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Barker 4 6 6 6 15 Holt 6 12 12 23

Whittier 2 4 2 2 6 Boyd 0 2 0

Underwd 2 8 2 4 7 Abney 4 8 12

Greene 0 1 2 6 2 Orr 4 8 12

Tewksbury 0 1 2 4 2 Givens 9 21 23

Hgstd-Vaa 3 3 2 3 8 Horton 1 4 5

Younan 4 4 5 6 13 Lymon 1 3 3

Colon 2 5 0 0 4 Pickel 0 7 0

Vaitkute 1 2 1 2 3 Brown 2 5 6

Bowen 0 0 0 0 0 Mason 0 0 0

Boser 0 0 0 0 0 Barclay 1 3 3

Totals 18 34 22 33 60 Totals 28 73 19 24 87

Maine 26 60

Middle Tennessee 47 87

3-pt. goals – Maine (2-7): Barker 1-2, Underwood 1-4, Greene 0-1; Middle Tennessee (12-34): Abney 4-8, Brown 2-4, Holt 2-3, Orr 1-3, Givens 1-4, Lymon 1-3, Barclay 1-2, Pickel 0-7

BLACK BEARS 69, TIGERS 63

(Sunday Afternoon)

Princeton (1-2) Maine (2-1)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Cowher 8 20 2 2 18 Whittier 3 8

Lckwood 10 15 0 0 21 Barker 7 10 21

Prichard 0 2 0 0 0 Undrwod 5 15 15

Berry 1 5 1 2 4 Greene 0 2 1

O’Neill 3 11 0 0 9 Tewksbry 3 9

Slemp 0 0 0 0 0 Younan 2 6 7

Downs 0 3 0 0 0 Hgstd-Va 0 0

Digovich 1 4 0 0 2 Boser 0 1 0

Schurle 0 2 1 2 1 Colon 4 8 8

Brown 0 0 0 0 0

Berger 1 1 0 2 2

Rogers 3 5 0 2 6

Totals 27 68 4 10 63 Totals 24 59 17 23 69

Princeton 26 63

Maine 28 69

3-pt. goals – Princeton (5-23): Lockwood 1-4, Berry 1-4, O’Neill 3-8, Cowher 0-1, Prichard 0-2, Digovich 0-1, Schurle 0-2, Rogers 0-1; Maine (4-11): Barker 1-2, Underwood 3-8, Greene 0-1