ORONO – The University of Maine played Saturday night with the kind of defensive intensity that may eventually form the foundation for a good America East ballclub.

With Hartford defenders exhibiting a similar tenacity with its man-to-man approach, the Black Bears’ struggles instead came on the offensive end.

The Hawks’ man-to-man defense caused several of UMaine’s 27 turnovers and they scored 25 points as a result of those miscues on the way to a 56-38 victory over the Bears at Alfond Arena.

Turnovers continue to be the Achilles’ heel for coach Cindy Blodgett’s ballclub, which shot only 29 percent from the field.

“I liked the effort. I thought my players played hard for the entire 40 minutes,” said Blodgett, who shook her head while talking about the continued turnover difficulties.

“I’ve talked so much about turnovers that I know they’re tired of hearing me say it, but we have to figure out a solution,” she said. “It’s less about everyone else. It’s more about what we’re doing.”

Hartford improved to 13-4 while Maine slipped to 4-13.

Sophomore co-captain Amanda Tewksbury led UMaine with 11 points and 10 rebounds, her first career double-double. Emily Rousseau of Biddeford contributed seven points and six rebounds. Colleen Kilmurray grabbed seven boards, while Kris Younan made five steals.

The Bears outrebounded the Hawks 39-32.

Senior forward Danielle Hood led the way for Hartford with a game-high 15 points, along with four assists and three steals. Erica Beverly added eight points and five rebounds and Diana Delva posted six points and nine rebounds.

Hartford coach Jennifer Rizzotti utilized 12 players for at least nine minutes in the contest. The Hawks’ gritty defense was the difference.

“I felt like we caused a lot of turnovers, we disrupted their offense a lot,” Rizzotti said. “We try to make sure that no matter how the offense is going for us, whether it’s good or bad, that the defense is still good.”

The Bears trailed 31-19 at halftime, largely because of their inability to take care of the basketball. UMaine committed 17 turnovers in the half, which led directly to 18 points by the Hawks.

UMaine played solid defense with its 1-2-2 matchup zone, bottling up the paint pretty well. However, the Hawks were still able to free up Beverly, who scored 14 first-half points on perfect 7-for-7 shooting.

Leading 13-11, the visitors made their move during the last 71/2 minutes of the half.

Beverly hit a 14-footer from the lane and scored from down low in transition to ignite a 13-4 surge. Both baskets came directly after turnovers by freshman Tanna Ross of Newburgh, who also was limited to three points.

“To her credit, she was getting one of our best defenders every time she was on the floor because she’s a guy that we were keyed on,” Rizzotti said. “I feel like she can score in bunches and she can really allow them to go on runs, so we were keyed on her right from the start.”

Mary Silvia’s 16-footer from the baseline pushed Hartford’s edge to 19-11 at the 6:40 mark, before Christina Mosher of Farmington snipped a 10-footer for the Bears. Silvia answered with a 3-pointer for the Hawks after a UMaine traveling violation, but Tewksbury countered for UMaine with a nifty six-footer from the baseline.

Beverly’s driving layup at the 3:15 mark, the byproduct of yet another turnover, made it 26-15 with 3:15 left in the half.

“They played good defense, but I think it’s more us,” Tewksbury said. “I think that we tend to rush our passes or we get hesitant.”

Hartford opened the second half with a 9-3 run that pushed its lead to 18 points and put the Hawks in command.

UMaine, in the midst of a three-game stretch against the top three teams in America East, returns to action Wednesday (7:30 p.m.) at Alfond Arena against Boston University.

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

990-8240

HAWKS 56, BLACK BEARS 38

Hartford (13-4) Maine (4-13)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Beverly 3 7 2 2 8 Ross 1 9 3

Schaefer 1 6 0 0 3 Tewksbry 4 11 3 6 11

Hood 7 9 1 2 15 Kilmurray 2 7 4

McCabe 1 4 0 0 3 Younan 1 4 4

Etienne 1 4 0 0 2 Baker 0 1 0

Smith 0 0 0 0 0 Boser 2 6 4

Pratt 1 2 1 2 3 Rouseau 3 9 7

Gomez 1 2 0 0 3 Mosher 2 4 5

Peterson 1 1 0 0 2

Hollins 1 6 0 0 2

Silvia 3 5 0 0 7

Delva 3 7 0 0 6

Kelley 0 1 2 2 2

Totals 23 54 6 8 56 Totals 15 51 11 38

Hartford 31 56

Maine 19 38

3-pt. goals – Hartford (4-13): Schaefer 1-5, McCabe 1-4, Gomez 1-2, Silvia 1-2; Maine (2-11): Ross 1-5, Kilmurray 0-1, Baker 0-1, Rousseau 1-4

Attendance: 2,929 (tickets issued)