BURLINGTON, Vt. – The University of Maine had hoped its experience would take over during the second half of Sunday’s game against Vermont. Instead, it was the poise and enthusiasm of the Catamounts that prevailed.

The Black Bears struggled repeatedly with turnovers and Vermont capitalized while rattling off 21 unanswered points to pull away for a 71-57 America East victory at Patrick Gym.

The Catamounts (13-3, 3-0 AE) trailed by nine with 9:04 to play but regained their composure and their confidence while energizing a crowd of 1,079.

“We just tried to focus on our defense and have great defensive play trigger our offense,” said UVM coach Sharon Dawley. For UMaine (8-7, 2-2 AE) it was another frustrating game. The Bears were in control much of the way, but seemed to tire down the stretch and succumb to Vermont’s depth and inspired play.

“We fell apart mentally, especially in key spots, which we can’t afford to do,” said UMaine coach Ann McInerney. “It comes down to we weren’t even getting shots off. We had bad turnovers.”

UMaine committed 25 turnovers, which Vermont converted into 25 points. Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor led the way for UMaine with 16 points, five rebounds, and two blocked shots. Ashley Underwood of Benton contributed 11 points but committed seven turnovers.

The Bears’ catalyst was junior guard Kris Younan, who scored six points, pulled down seven rebounds, dished out six assists, and made four steals in a game that featured lots of fast-paced play. Katie Whittier of New Gloucester added nine points.

UMaine is disappointed by its recent struggles, but remains confident.

“We’re a good team. If we can just put it together, we’ll be fine,” Younan said. “We’re working with what we’ve got and we’re getting there.”

Vermont was paced by freshman point guard Courtnay Pilypaitis, who poured in 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half and also contributed six rebounds, three assists and three steals. The league’s top rookie committed seven of the host’s 19 turnovers.

Freshman May Kotsopoulos finished with 15 points and three steals for the Cats, who outrebounded the Bears 37-28. Vermont trailed 35-27 early in the second half, but put together an 11-2 surge that gave it a 38-37 lead with 13:22 remaining.

“That’s where, as a veteran team, we need to put them away when we have them,” Barker said. “It’s something we can learn from, when we do have the lead to keep pushing and keep putting the pressure on.”

The Bears quickly found an answer, manufacturing a 9-0 spurt that included two Barker baskets. Younan’s driving shot from the lane at the 10:06 mark put UMaine ahead 48-40 with 10:06 to play. It would be the Bears’ last field goal for 81/2 minutes, even though they held their largest lead (50-41) after two Whittier free throws with 9:04 left.

“Kris Younan did a great job of attacking and creating shots for us,” McInerney said. “Then we got tentative and we got into a situation where we did not execute and we had bad turnovers.”

Vermont turned up its defensive intensity and badgered the Bears, who turned the ball over six times in the next four minutes. The Catamounts capitalized.

Pilypaitis hit a 3-pointer with 8:43 left that ignited the game-clinching rally. Kotsopoulos followed with a 3-pointer off an inbounds play, then Pilypaitis drained another 3 and hit a 14-footer from the lane – both off UMaine turnovers – to give the Cats a 52-50 edge with 6:33 remaining.

CATAMOUNTS 71, BLACK BEARS 57

Maine (8-7) Vermont (13-3)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Younan 3 8 0 2 6 Kotsopls 3 15

Undrwood 4 11 1 4 11 Cross 2 7 8

Whittier 3 5 3 4 9 Rosnkrntz 2 5

Greene 1 4 0 0 3 Cihal 2 5 4

Barker 6 8 3 4 16 Pilypaitis 7 16 2 3 20

Baker 0 1 1 2 1 Madey 0 0 0

Hgstd-Vaa 1 2 3 3 5 Brown 0 0 0

Tewksbury 1 4 2 2 4 Fenton 1 3 5

Bowen 1 1 0 0 2 Trott 0 0 0

Kilmurray 0 0 0 0 0 Iwobi 2 5 6

Poles 4 8 0 8

Totals 20 44 13 21 57 Totals 23 57 19 26 71

Maine 32 57

Vermont 25 71

3-pt. goals – Maine (4-20): Underwood 2-8, Greene 1-4, Barker 1-3, Younan 0-1, Baker 0-1, Tewksbury 0-3; Vermont (6-19): Pilypaitis 4-9, Kotsopoulos 1-3, Fenton 1-2, Cross 0-3, Rosenkrantz 0-1, Iwobi 0-1

Attendance: 1,079