In the end, the University of Tennessee was just too big, too quick, too athletic.

And too good.

The nationally ranked Lady Volunteers jumped out to an early 10-point lead and held off a number of charges from a gritty University of Maine team en route to a 77-64 victory in front of 2,281 fans at the Bangor Auditorium on Thursday night.

Tennessee, ranked eighth in the USA Today/CNN poll (10th by the Associated Press), moved to 4-2. Maine dropped to 3-5.

After jumping out to a 15-5 lead against a surprising Maine starting lineup (which included freshmen Chris Strong and Cyndi Buetow), the Lady Black Bears stayed even with the Lady Vols through the rest of the first half, trailing 36-25.

In the second half, Tennessee got the lead to 44-31 before Maine began to seriously cut away at the advantage.

Maine freshman Tammy Smith came off the bench to hit a three pointer and, a few seconds later, a foul shot to cut the lead to 44-35.

Following a UT turnover, Maine center Rachel Bouchard (31 points, 12 rebounds) connected on a post-up move to cut the lead to 44-37 with 12:41 left.

After UT Coach Pat Summitt called timeout, the Lady Vols cranked up the heat generated by their tenacious in-your-shirt-all-of-the-time pressure defense. The move resulted in a 14-1 spurt, turning a 7-point edge into a 20-point advantage with 9:22 remaining.

The Vols’ Dena Head, a 5-foot-10 point guard who came off the bench to score 14 second-half points, sandwiched a driving layup and two free throws around an inside hoop by 6-2 Kelli Casteel.

After a UM turnover, Casteel hit another bucket inside and point guard Cindy Adams hit a 17-footer to get the lead at 54-38.

A technical foul against Maine Coach Trish Roberts didn’t help the cause as Head canned both free throws and, on the ensuing possession, Nikki Caldwell added two more freebies to get the lead up to 20.

The Bears cut the lead back to 12 with 3:36 remaining, but by that time they were involved in a running game, one of Tennessee’s strengths.

“They’re a really good team,” said Roberts, coaching against her alma mater. “I’m really proud of our girls because they didn’t give up. There were times when I thought (Tennessee) was going to run away with it. But our girls kept coming back. I’m really proud of them. They played well.”

“I want to compliment the University of Maine and Trish Roberts,” said Summitt. “They were well-prepared. But throughout the course of the game, I think our pressure defense and up-tempo play really wore on them.”

First-team All-American Daedra Charles, a 6-3 center, netted 7 of her 16 points in the early going as the Lady Vols jumped out to a 15-5 lead, setting the tone for the game.

Maine handled the Tennessee pressure fairly well in terms of turnovers (they made only 20), but the in-your-face style the Lady Vols played hampered the Bears in terms of getting the open shot and finding the open people.

It also was a catalyst for Tennessee to kick start its running game.

“I thought tonight our team came out and played really good defense,” said Head. “I thought our pressure defense effected them somewhat. That, in turn, got our tempo going. That’s something our team needs. We count a lot of on our defense to get our game going.”

Maine hit just 18 of 47 (38 percent) from the floor. A 26-14 advantage in made free throws allowed the Bears to stay close.

Tennessee, meanwhile, hit 31 of 63 (49 percent) shots – 21 of which came within 6 feet of the basket.

Lady Vols 77, Black Bears 64

Tennessee Maine women

Name AG G AF F TP Name AG G AF F TP

Adams 4 3 1 1 8 Strong 1 0 0 0 0

Harrison 7 3 0 0 6 Briggs 7 1 2 1 3

Charles 15 7 7 2 16 Bradstreet 3 0 8 7 7

Caldwell 4 2 2 2 6 Bouchard 22 9 16 13 31

Casteel 10 7 0 0 14 Buetow 2 1 0 0 2

Clark 2 1 0 0 2 Smith 1 1 3 2 5

Head 11 4 6 6 14 Frenette 5 2 2 2 6

Jeter 2 2 0 0 4 Goodhue 6 4 4 1 10

Evans 5 1 2 2 4

Hawhee 3 1 2 1 3

Totals 63 31 20 14 77 Totals 47 18 35 26 64

Tennessee 36 77

Maine 25 64

3-pt. goals: Tennessee (1-3): Adams 1-1, Head 0-1, Caldwell 0-1; Maine (2-3): Smith 1-1, Goodhue 1-1, Bradstreet 0-1.