BANGOR, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (4-5) never trailed on Wednesday evening as it picked up a 68-49 win over visiting Northeastern. Laia Sole led the Black Bears with 16 points and four rebounds.

Sigi Koizar chipped in 14 points, all coming in the first half, hitting four 3-pointers, while Julie Brosseau added a trio of triples and finished with 11 points. Koizar recorded the 148th 3-pointer of her career, surpassing former teammate Liz Wood for sixth all-time in long-range shooting for the Black Bears. Tanesha Sutton's career-high seven assists guided Maine's offense to a season-high 68 points.

Maine's swarming defense forced the Huskies to take several tough shots, leading to a tough shooting night (27.7 percent) for Northeastern. On the other end, the Black Bears finished the game 25-for-58 (43.1 percent) and knocked down 10 3-pointers. The Black Bears held a 19-4 advantage in points off turnovers as they forced the Huskies into 16 mishaps. Maine assisted on 19 of its 25 buckets.

Northeastern's rough shooting night also included a 5-for-26 showing from 3-point range and an 8-for-14 mark from the free throw line.

Maine got off to a hot start, outscoring the Huskies 23-11 over the opening 10-minutes of action. The Black Bears opened the game with a 13-4 run as a triple from Koizar and a layup from Sole gave Maine the early nine point edge. Northeastern cut the lead to six but Maine answered, piecing together an 8-0 run to lift its lead to 14, 23-9.

The Huskies were again able to cut the lead to single-digits when Gabby Giacone's bucket brought them back within eight.

Maine again turned the offense on with a 14-5 run giving it its largest lead of the first half, 37-20. Maine carried a 15 point advantage into the break after shooting 56-percent over the opening 20-minutes.

The lead dipped to 11 midway through the third quarter before Brosseau snapped the run, ripping off five-straight points to put Maine back up by 16.

Maine continued to expand the lead, taking its largest advantage on a 3-pointer from Naira Caceres early in the fourth quarter. The triple, Maine's 10th of the game, gave the home team its largest lead of the game, 60-38.

The Black Bears continued to cruise, ultimately capturing the win, 68-49.

Maine is back in action at the Cross Insurance Center on Saturday, Dec. 10 when it hosts Dartmouth. For tickets, please visit TicketMaster.com or the Cross Center box office.

-UMaine-