Vestal, N.Y. -- An impressive third quarter, tremendous overall defensive effort, milestone moments, and several key individual performances all led to a 67-46 victory for the University of Maine women's basketball team at Binghamton on Saturday afternoon. The win, Maine's sixth in a row, lift the Black Bears to 11-1 overall and 8-1 in America East play.

Blanca Millan tallied 17 of her 20 points in the second half as the fifth-year guard surpassed Heather Ernest to climb into fifth on Maine's all-time scoring list at 1,817 career points. Dor Saar's floating layup in the third quarter gave her 1,000 points for her career. Saar became just the 22nd player in Maine women's basketball history to join the prestigious 1,000 point club.

Anne Simon, who entered the game averaging 25.5 points in two games against Maine, registered her third 20-plus point scoring performance in as many games as she led all scorers with 22 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Maeve Carroll narrowly missed a double-double as she added 12 points and nine boards.

After a slow first half saw Maine take a 24-21 lead at the break, the Black Bears exploded out of the gates in the third. Maine would go on to outscore the Bearcats 23-9 in the quarter while tallying 10 steals and forcing 12 turnovers in the 10 minute span. All 23 of Maine's points in the third came off Binghamton turnovers.

With a three point lead to start the second half, Maine pieced together a 16-2 run to start the period. After Binghamton opened the period with a bucket, Maine would string together 16 unanswered points to distance itself from the Bearcats.

The majority of the third quarter sprint came directly off turnovers as Maine turned five early steals into buckets. Simon was able to jump the passing lane to record steals on three consecutive possessions, scoring two of them herself before dishing to Millan for a pair on the third. Two more steals led to more Maine points as Saar's takeaway ended in a triple by Simon to put Maine up by 15, 38-23, with 5:52 left in the third.

Leading by 19 to start the fourth, Maine opened the final period with an 18-7 run to take its largest lead of the ballgame. A 6-0 run opened the final period before back-to-back triples from Kelly Fogarty and Simon stretched the advantage to 25. A layup from Millan gave her 20 before Abbe Laurence's bucket, off Saar's eighth assist of the afternoon, gave Maine a 28 point cushion; its largest of the game.

The Black Bears cruised down the stretch, sealing the 67-46 victory in the series opener at Binghamton.

The two teams will close the weekend series on Sunday at 2 p.m. as Maine looks for its third consecutive weekend sweep.

-UMaine-