ORONO – The University of Maine women’s basketball team is lacking in several areas this season.

What the Black Bears do possess is plenty of grit and determination.

UMaine made a handful of clutch plays down the stretch, including Amanda Tewksbury’s offensive rebound basket with 26.3 seconds left, to eke out a 55-53 America East victory over Stony Brook on Saturday afternoon.

The Black Bears (7-17, 4-7 AE) moved temporarily ahead of New Hampshire into seventh place in the league standings.

“We need every win,” Blodgett said. “It’s important because it keeps us alive in terms of trying to stay out of the 8-9 [seeds’ first round playoff] game.”

UMaine overcame 27 turnovers by playing tenacious defense and remaining aggressive on the boards. The Bears executed when the game was on the line, delighting the crowd of 1,967 at Alfond Arena.

“They actually got two stops at the end, which was crucial,” Blodgett said. “And it’s such a great experience for our young group to be able to get two stops and win the game.”

Tewksbury’s heads-up play was instrumental in helping the Bears regain the momentum, along with the lead.

“I saw the shot clock was running down and I just wanted to get in there, hoping the ball comes to me,” Tewksbury said. “Thankfully, it came right to me.”

Kris Younan then answered a Stony Brook turnover by sinking two free throws with 8.6 seconds left to seal the win.

“I just focused really hard, tried my best to make them,” Younan said.

Junior forward Colleen Kilmurray paced UMaine with 17 points and seven rebounds while playing the full 40 minutes. Tewksbury finished with 16 points and six rebounds, while Brittany Boser added eight points.

The Bears outrebounded the Seawolves 35-27.

“We definitely just came together as a team,” Kilmurray said. “We came off a tough loss [Wednesday], so we had a hard few days of practice and just mentally got prepared and got it done.”

Kairsten Nunn led Stony Brook (6-18, 1-10 AE) with 13 points and three steals, while Kirsten Jeter provided 12 points and four steals.

UMaine was without freshman guard Emily Rousseau of Biddeford, who injured her right knee Wednesday. Freshman Tanna Ross of Newburgh also is being restricted to fewer than 20 minutes per game because of a right knee injury.

“Unfortunately, we can’t change that, so we have to have other players step up,” Blodgett said, pointing to the play of Kristin Baker of Bingham and freshman Magdala Johnson.

The Seawolves, who trailed by 13 points in the first half, regained the lead (31-29) on Samantha Norwood’s three-point play with 15:47 to play. SBU held the Bears at bay, allowing them to draw even on seven occasions without surrendering the lead.

Aly Young’s 3-pointer with 3:05 left gave SBU a 51-48 edge, but it was all UMaine after that.

Kilmurray started the Bears’ resurgence by hitting a 17-footer off a kickout pass from Christina Mosher of Farmington at the 2:48 mark. UMaine shook off turnovers on their next two possessions, while SBU had a missed shot and a turnover.

Kilmurray made one of two from the foul line to tie the game at 51 with 1:20 left, then rebounded a Young miss at the other end. With the shot clock winding down, Boser missed a jumper from the baseline.

Tewksbury was in perfect rebounding position underneath and quickly scored to give UMaine the lead for good.

“That’s a game-changing play and it’s us making a play, as opposed to us waiting for someone to make a play.”

The Seawolves turned the ball over trying to get the tying basket and Younan hit the two free throws to ice it.

UMaine started strong, going 8-for-12 from the field on its way to an early 20-8 lead. Stony Brook later responded with a 15-2 run that made it 25-25 with 1:35 left in the half.

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

990-8240

BLACK BEARS 55, SEAWOLVES 53

Maine (7-17) Stony Brook (6-18)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Boser 4 8 0 0 8 Jeter 4 12 4 12

Kilmurray 5 9 5 6 17 Young 3 11 7

Mosher 2 5 1 2 5 Ferraro 0 5 0 0

Younan 1 2 2 3 4 Nunn 6 12 1 13

Tewksbury 6 10 3 5 16 Horsey 2 6 6

Baker 1 2 1 2 3 Plikus 3 6 0 6

Ross 1 6 0 0 2 Norwood 3 4 3 9

Johnson 0 0 0 0 0 Rushin 0 0 0 0

Daniels 0 0 0 0

Patrick 0 0 0 0

Totals 20 42 12 18 55 Totals 21 56 9 14 53

Stony Brook 25 53

Maine 27 55

3-pt. goals ? Stony Brook (2-7): Young 1-3, Nunn 0-1, Horsey 1-2, Plikus 0-1; Maine (3-8): Kilmurray 2-4, Tewksbury 1-1, Ross 0-3

Attendance: 1,968 (tickets issued)