BALTIMORE – The road struggles continued Saturday afternoon for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.

The University of Maryland Baltimore County went 17-for-23 from the foul line, all in the second half, to help secure a 69-59 America East victory over the Black Bears at the RAC Arena.

Coach Cindy Blodgett’s UMaine team slipped to 6-16 overall, 3-6 in league play, while dropping to 0-5 in conference road contests.

Blodgett said the Bears, who had utilized their inside game effectively in beating the Retrievers (7-15, 3-6 AE) in Orono, instead tried to make Saturday’s contest a perimeter game on the offensive end.

“We got caught up playing the style of another team,” Blodgett said. “We wound up taking more 3’s than they did.”

Three-pointers were key for UMBC, which went 10-for-23 from beyond the arc. The hosts also scored 17 points off 17 UMaine turnovers.

Sophomore forward Amanda Tewksbury set the offensive pace for the Bears, connecting for a career-high 25 points, 19 of those in the second half, to go with five rebounds and two steals.

Sophomore Brittany Boser finished with nine points, six rebounds and two blocked shots, while freshman Christina Mosher of Farmington contributed six points and seven rebounds.

UMaine went 6-for-24 (25 percent) from 3-point range, attempting 10 more 3-pointers than its season average.

Carlee Cassidy hit four 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 27 points and handed out six assists for the Retrievers. Kristin Drabyn scored 21 points, with five 3-pointers,and Chantay Frazier added 15 points and five assists.

“When you have a chance to go down and steal a road game, it’s important to do that,” said Blodgett, who was pleased with the Bears’ first-half effort.

“We’ve struggled on the road, especially in terms of the first half, but we played well in the first half. We were up by a point (27-26, at halftime).”

UMBC regained the lead for good with the aid of a key 8-0 run early in the second half. Cassidy opened the surge with a foul shot and capped it with a 3-pointer that gave the Retrievers a 40-32 lead with 14:45 left.

UMaine got back within two at 47-45 on a Tewksbury 3-pointer at the 7:42 mark, but the Bears’ rebounding woes caught up to them. UMBC came up with two offensive rebounds to maintain its ensuing possession, which ended with a Drabyn 3-pointer with 6:55 left.

UMaine outrebounded UMBC 35-34, but wound up giving the hosts several second chances in the late going.

“The last seven minutes of the game, they got seven offensive boards,” Blodgett said. “That’s giving away seven possessions and those things add up, especially on the road.”

RETRIEVERS 69, BLACK BEARS 59

Maine (6-16) UMBC (7-15)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Boser 4 7 1 2 9 Colabella 1 2

Kilmurray 1 5 4 4 6 Cassidy 8 18 10 27

Younan 1 4 0 0 2 Frazier 4 7 15

Rousseau 2 14 0 0 5 Drabyn 6 17 21

Tewksbury 7 14 8 10 25 Brokans 0 0 0

Ross 2 6 0 0 6 Barker 0 1 0 0

Mosher 2 3 2 3 6 Lidgren 0 0 0

Robinson 2 5 4

Hatten 0 1 0 0

Totals 19 53 15 19 59 Totals 21 54 17 23 69

Maine 27 59

Maryland Baltimore County 26 69

3-pt. goals – Maine (6-24): Kilmurray 0-1, Younan 0-3, Rousseau 1-9, Tewksbury 3-6, Ross 2-5; UMBC (10-23): Cassidy 4-9, Frazier 1-1, Drabyn 5-12, Hatten 0-1

Attendance: 637