ORONO – It was viewed by the University of Maine women’s basketball team as a chance to make a statement.

Instead, Saturday’s America East game against two-time defending conference champion Hartford wound up being an exercise in frustration.

The Hawks scored the first 10 points of the contest and made the lead stand up on their way to a 66-50 victory over the Black Bears in front of 1,959 fans at Alfond Arena.

“You can never start a game like that and not score for the first couple of minutes,” said UMaine senior Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor. “We just got on our heels early and we could never come back from that.”

Coach Ann McInerney’s Bears (10-9, 4-4 AE) started slowly, rebounded poorly, and couldn’t establish enough consistent offense to make a serious run at the Hawks in the second half.

“I think the toughness factor today in how they played versus how we played was the difference in the game,” said McInerney, whose Bears were outrebounded 43-28 and who missed several open looks at the basket with shots that appeared tentative or rushed.

Hartford (13-7, 6-1 AE) won its fourth straight game behind its stingy man-to-man defense. The Hawks, who rank eighth nationally in scoring defense (53.6), limited the Bears to 35 percent floor shooting.

Hartford limited UMaine senior standouts Barker and Ashley Underwood of Benton to a combined 17 points on 4-for-23 (17 percent) shooting. Barker led the Bears with 12 points and seven rebounds, while Underwood was limited to five points on 1-for-9 accuracy.

“Hartford obviously did an outstanding job defensively of shutting down our two guns, our top guns,” McInerney said.

Kris Younan contributed nine points and five assists for UMaine. Sandra Vaitkute, a 6-foot-6 freshman, was a bright spot with seven points and two rebounds in 11 minutes.

Slippery guard Ikea Witt paced Hartford with 21 points. Danielle Hood scored 16 points, and Lisa Etienne provided 10 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and three steals.

The Bears had clawed their way back into contention late in the first half during which the Hawks outrebounded the hosts 26-12, including 12 offensive boards.

After spotting Hartford a 22-7 lead, UMaine came charging back with a 12-4 surge, including two Vaitkute baskets that got it within five at 28-23.

The Bears trailed by seven at the break, but came out fired up to open the second half. Barker sandwiched a 3-pointer and a conventional three-point play around a low-post bucket by Witt to get UMaine within three at 32-29 with 18:28 to play.

The hosts were poised to draw even after a Younan steal, but Underwood missed a 3-pointer in transition. Abby Greene was in position for the rebound, but her putback came up short.

Hartford answered with back-to-back low-post baskets by Hood and a MaryLynne Schaefer 3-pointer that pushed the Hawks’ lead back to 39-29 at the 16:50 mark.

“That would have been a very big basket, whether we tied it or were down one,” McInerney said. “I think from there the wind was knocked a little bit out of our sails.”

The Bears never recovered from the 9-0 Hartford run. They wound up going almost six minutes without a field goal, then were held scoreless for nearly six minutes during the Hawks’ game-clinching 9-0 run later in the half.

Hartford came out strong off the opening tap. Four different players scored and the Hawks forced three turnovers as they built a 10-0 lead in the first 31/2 minutes.

“I feel like since Barker has come back, they’ve started to hit their stride, so I’m very pleased with my players and how they responded, especially defensively, to start the game,” said Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti.

UMaine returns to action Saturday with a noon game at New Hampshire.

HAWKS 66, BLACK BEARS 50

Hartford (13-7) Maine (10-9)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Hood 8 14 0 1 16 Whittier 2 4 5

Kelley 2 5 3 4 7 Barker 3 14 12

Witt 7 11 7 8 21 Younan 4 7 0 9

Etienne 3 11 3 3 10 Undrwood 1 5

Schaefer 1 5 0 0 3 Greene 2 3 5

Pratt 0 2 0 0 0 Hgstd-Va 3 6

Gomez 0 3 0 0 0 Tewksbry 0 1

Peterson 0 1 0 0 0 Vaitkute 3 7

Matulis 0 2 0 0 0 Bowen 0 1 0

Delva 3 4 3 3 9 Baker 0 0 0

Kilmurray 0 0 0

Bratishko 0 0 0

Totals 24 58 16 19 66 Totals 18 52 10 13 50

Hartford 30 66

Maine 23 50

3-pt. goals – Hartford (2-10): Etienne 1-5, Schaefer 1-4, Gomez 0-1; Maine (4-11): Barker 1-4, Younan 1-2, Underwood 1-4, Greene 1-1

Attendance: 1,959