Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball scored its eight consecutive victory after besting UMass Lowell, 81-49 on Saturday afternoon. Blanca Millan led all scorers with 26 points in the victory to help move Maine to 13-1 overall and 10-1 in America East play.

For the ninth time this season, Millan was able to surpass the 20 point plateau as she finished with 26 points on 11-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Maeve Carroll, who led the America East in double-doubles a season ago, tallied her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds while Anne Simon chipped in 12 points and six boards. Dor Saar ended with nine points and five assists, moving her past Cindy Blodgett and into second on Maine's all-time assists leaderboard with 489.

Maine's focus coming into the contest was on winning the rebounding battle, and that it did. The Black Bears owned the boards, outrebounding the River Hawks by a 41-29 margin with 16 rebounds coming on the offensive end. The Black Bears, who tallied their second-highest point total of the year, went 31-of-67 from the field and cashed in on 11 triples against a UMass Lowell defense which entered as the number one team in the America East against the three.

A 15-0 first quarter run by the Black Bears help them jump out to an early advantage, one they would not look back from. Trailing by a pair in the early stages, Maine would hold UMass Lowell scoreless for almost a six minute span in the first. Six points from Simon an five from Millan helped fuel the run which lifted Maine to a 17-4 lead in the opening quarter.

Maine, which led by 13 after one, built its lead out to 17 with 6:46 left in the half when Millan intercepted a UMass Lowell pass and took it coast-to-coast for the bucket. A 7-0 run, all off free throws, by the River Hawks cut the lead down to 10 late in the second.

The Black Bears came out of the halftime break with high energy, outscoring UMass Lowell 19-8 in the period to help seal the victory. Maine opened the half with an 8-0 run, on triples from Millan and Kelly Fogerty to go along with a layup from Carroll, stretching the lead to 21. Moments later, a corner triple from Fanny Wadling advanced the lead to 25 in the late stages of the third.

Leading by 29 in the fourth, a 6-0 run from Maine gave it its largest lead of the contest, 77-42. Maine would cruise down the stretch to take the victory, 81-49.

The two teams close the weekend series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

-UMaine-