Bangor, Maine -- The University of Maine (8-6, 1-0 AE) began America East conference play with a 67-46 victory over visiting New Hampshire (3-11, 0-1) on Wednesday evening at the Cross Insurance Center. Tanesha Sutton led the way, tallying her second double-double in as many games with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

The Black Bears dominated play inside, finishing with a 37-18 advantage on the boards. Maine's rebounding total included 13 offensive boards which led to a 20-3 advantage in second chance points.

Parise Rossignol added 18 points on an extremely efficient 8-of-9 from the floor in 24 minutes of action while Blanca Millan chipped in 13 points and five rebounds while recording the 200th steal of her career. For Millan, it marked her fourth consecutive game in double-digits and 12th double-figure scoring output of the season. Fanny Wadling, who missed Maine's previous 10 games due to injury, returned to the floor, recording four points, three rebounds and two assists.

Defensively, the Black Bears tallied 10 steals, forcing 16 total New Hampshire turnovers. New Hampshire's 46 points matched the least points Maine has allowed this season. With the defensive effort, Maine improved to 32-4 under Coach Vachon when holding the opponent to 60 points or fewer.

Maine opened play with an 8-0 run as one of Rossignol's three triples forced the Wildcats to burn an early timeout, just 2:41 into the first quarter.

UNH cut the lead back down to five but the Black Bears responded with a 5-0 run when Wadling found Kelly Fogarty for three, giving Maine its first double-digit lead (15-5) of the night.

The Black Bears continued to cruise as they ended the half on a 9-2 run to stretch the lead to 14. Sutton totaled seven points on the run, including a bucket with two-seconds remaining to send the game into the break at 34-20.

Maine kept rolling to begin the third as it started the half with a 9-0 run. Rossignol's jumper extended the lead to 23, forcing UNH to call another early timeout.

The Wildcats continued to chip away as they were able to get the deficit to 14 with 9:39 remaining in regulation.

However, Maine's offense would again come alive. Triples from Millan and Saar came as part of a 10-0 Black Bear run, giving the home team their largest lead of the game, 64-39.

Maine cruised the rest of the way, sealing the 67-46 victory for its seventh-straight home America East victory.

The Black Bears continue America East play on Saturday, Jan. 5 when it hosts UMBC at 1 p.m. For tickets, visit TicketMaster.com or call 207.581.BEAR.

-UMaine-