Portland, Maine -- Blanca Millan led three Maine scorers in double-figures as the University of Maine women's basketball team clinched its third straight appearance in the America East Championship with a 64-48 victory over No. 5 New Hampshire on Sunday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Arena.

The Black Bears will host the conference championship for the first time since the 1997-98 season when it takes on No. 6 Hartford on Friday, March 9 at 4 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 5 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at the Cross Insurance Center box office or online at TicketMaster.com.

Maine, which will be looking for its conference leading eighth title and its first since the 2003-04 season, was paced by Millan who totaled team-highs of 16 points and eight rebounds. Millan's scoring total marked her 30th consecutive double-digit performance. Tanesha Sutton stretched her double-digit streak to seven straight with 14 points while Parise Rossignol again provided key minutes off the bench, adding 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting.

The league's leading defense, which entered the tournament allowing just 56.2 points per game, limited its 14th opponent of the season to 50 points or fewer. The Black Bears were able to hold New Hampshire to single-digits in the first and third quarters as the Wildcats ended the contest just 16-for-55 (29.1) from the field. The percentage was the seventh time this season in which a team has shot under 30 percent against Maine's defense.

The Black Bears controlled the boards to a 37-32 advantage and dominated play inside with a 20-8 advantage in paint scoring.

The Black Bears were able to get off to a strong start on the defensive end, much the same as their start in Saturday's quarterfinal action. Maine held New Hampshire, which ended the first quarter 3-for-17 form the floor, to just one field goal over the opening 5:50 of action.

Sutton tallied six of Maine's first 13 points as the Black Bears opened play on a 13-4 run and led 15-6 after the first quarter.

A 6-0 run carried Maine into the early stages of the second quarter when Millan found Rossignol on the fastbreak to give Maine its largest lead of the opening half, 19-6.

New Hampshire settled into a groove of its own, reeling off an 8-0 run to trim the Black Bear advantage to five.

Sutton tallied her 10th point of the half when she nailed a triple, followed by a free throw just over a minute later, to extend Maine's lead back out to 10.

Rossignol's jumper, off a pair of offensive boards by the Black Bears, at the horn sent Maine into the break with a 31-21 advantage.

A reenergized Maine offense emerged from the half as the Black Bears were able to break out a 9-1 run, taking a 40-22 lead just 2:02 into the third period.

The Black Bears held New Hampshire scoreless over a 6:25 span, using the effort to put together a 11-0 run. Consecutive buckets from Rossignol gave the Black Bears a 23 point edge, its largest of the game, with 8:06 to play.

The advantage only dipped as low as 14 the rest of the way as Maine was able to seal a 64-48 victory to advance to its 18th conference title game.

-UMaine-