ORONO – There was a lot at stake Saturday afternoon for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

The Black Bears needed a victory, and a boost of confidence, as they fight for tournament seeding heading into the last two regular season games.

And UMaine’s seniors wanted their last memory of playing at Alfond Arena to be a happy one.

Seniors Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor and Ashley Underwood of Benton combined for 47 points Saturday as UMaine celebrated “Senior Day” with a 79-72 America East victory over Maryland Baltimore County in front of 2,020 fans.

“Any time you send your seniors out on a high note – any time your seniors can send their teammates out with a win – it adds something special to the day,” said UMaine coach Ann McInerney.

It was an emotional day for seniors Underwood, Barker, Katie Whittier of New Gloucester and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa who , along with their parents, were honored before the game.

“We want to express our thanks to everybody who made this four years so special,” Barker said. “It’s not over yet, that’s for sure. Just playing at home in front of all these fans, there’s nothing like it. We just want to thank them.”

Coach Ann McInerney’s Bears (13-12, 7-7 America East), who had faltered late in recent close games against Vermont and Boston University, finished the job this time.

UMaine bolted to an 8-0 lead and extended its advantage to as many as 18 points. UMBC (13-15, 6-9 AE) made a determined second-half rally, but the hosts held their ground.

Underwood went 10-for-10 from the foul line and Barker was 2-for-2 in the last 56 seconds as the Bears survived a barrage of Retriever 3-pointers.

“The last two games we let get away from us, for sure,” said Underwood, who scored 23 points, grabbed a team-best seven rebounds and dished out six assists. “This is definitely a key win, especially because we’re in the middle of the pack and everyone’s kind of dogging for that third and fourth spot [in the standings].”

Barker scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed six rebounds for UMaine, which has locked up no worse than sixth place. Hugstad-Vaa netted 11 points and Kris Younan added four assists and three steals.

The Bears outscored the Retrievers 26-14 from the foul line with Underwood and Barker, the nation’s free throw percentage leader, going a combined 19-for-21.

Sharri Rohde paced UMBC with 19 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Kristin Drabyn tallied 14 points and Brittnie Hughes provided 10 points and six assists.

The Bears dominated, building a 15-2 lead during the first 71/2 minutes. Their man-to-man defense contained the Retrievers’ screen-oriented “Princeton offense” and the hosts overcame a handful of turnovers to execute well on offense.

Hugstad-Vaa opened UMaine’s initial 8-0 run with a close-range basket off an Abby Greene assist. Barker later drained 3-pointers 28 seconds apart.

“They came out and played well early and we didn’t,” said coach Phil Stern. “We just didn’t come out with a lot of fire early on.”

Stacy Hunt finally got UMBC on the scoreboard with a layup at the 15:30 mark, but freshman Amanda Tewksbury came off the bench to provide a spark for the Bears.

Tewksbury sandwiched two foul shots and a transition bucket around a Younan 3-pointer during a 7-0 run that gave UMaine a 15-2 bulge.

“They do a great job against our zones, better than anyone else, finding the gaps and getting some high-lows and things like that,” Stern said.

Down 18 early in the second half, UMBC battled back behind the play of Rohde. Her two foul shots cut UMaine’s lead to 64-58 with 3:09 left.

However, Greene answered by burying a rainbow 3-pointer 20 seconds later that kept the Bears in charge.

“Normally we’ll get frazzled, but we stayed composed and we knew that we were the better team,” Hugstad-Vaa said.

BLACK BEARS 79, RETRIEVERS 72

UMBC (13-15) Maine (13-12)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Rohde 5 10 9 10 19 Hgstd-Va 4 10 3 4 11

Robinson 3 6 0 0 6 Whittier 2 6

Hughes 3 10 4 4 10 Barker 6 10 10 24

Drabyn 5 14 1 1 14 Underwd 5 9 10 11 23

Hatten 3 4 0 1 7 Greene 2 6 6

Hunt 1 1 0 0 2 Younan 1 3 0 3

Cassidy 2 8 0 0 6 Tewksbry 2 6

Butler 2 2 0 0 4 Baker 0 0 0

Luttrell 2 4 0 0 4 Boser 0 0 0

Book 0 0 0 0 0 Kilmurray 0 0 0

Vaitkute 0 0 0

Totals 26 59 14 16 72 Totals 22 48 26 29 79

UMBC 22 72

Maine 36 79

3-pt. goals – UMBC (6-22): Rohde 0-1, Hughes 0-3, Drabyn 3-10, Hatten 1-1, Cassidy 2-6, Luttrell 0-1; Maine (9-20): Barker 3-5, Underwood 3-7, Greene 2-6, Younan 1-2

Attendance: 2,020