Orono, Maine -- For the sixth-straight year, and the 20th time in the history of the program, the University of Maine women's basketball team has earned a berth in the America East title game after defeating UAlbany, 67-47, on Sunday afternoon.

The Black Bears will host No. 2 seed Stony Brook on Friday, March 12 at 5 p.m. at The Pit inside Memorial Gymnasium. Friday's conference championship game will be televised live on ESPNU and carried locally on 96.1 WGUY-FM and worldwide at GoBlackBears.com. No fans will be permitted into the title game. The contest, pitting Maine against Stony Brook, is a rematch of what was scheduled to be last season's title game match-up before the game was canceled due to Covid-19 concerns.

Maine will host the title game for the third time in the last four seasons as the Black Bears will look for their conference leading 10th title.

The Black Bears were impressive on the defensive end as they limited the Great Danes to just 47 points, marking the ninth time this season in which Maine has held its opponent under 50 points. UAlbany, which had seen solid offensive production in the paint, finished with just 18 points in the paint as the Black Bears forced 17 turnovers while holding the visitors to a 36.4 percent showing from the floor.

Maine, which shot a season best 57.9 percent from three-point range, were led by Blanca Millan who finished just shy of a double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds. Millan was joined by three other Black Bears in double-figures with Dor Saar and Anne Simon each chipping in 13 points. Maeve Carroll rounded out the double-digit scorers with a complete day of 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

After falling behind by five early, the Black Bears responded with a 15-0 run and never looked back. Leading by four after one, Maine opened the second quarter with a triple from Simon followed by a pair of buckets by Millan. Millan's bucket off a turnover put Maine up by 11 with 6:58 left in the quarter.

The Great Danes cut the lead back down to three before Maine responded strong, ending the half on a 7-0 run. Saar dialed up a triple to get the sprint started by Alba Orois, working off a turnover, went coast-to-coast for a layup to give the Black Bears a 28-18 lead at the break.

Maine put together its best quarter showing in the third, outscoring the Great Danes 24-13 in the period. A 10-2 run pushed the lead to 22 on Saar's triple with just over a minute left in the period.

The hosts kept charging in the fourth. With the advantage at 20, Maine pieced together a 10-0 run put the game out of reach. Back-to-back triples from Millan came between layups from Carroll and Fanny Wadling as Maine saw its lead grow to the largest of the contest, 62-32, with 6:47 left.

The lead would not dip below 20 the rest of the way as Maine earned its 21st conference semifinal victory in program history, 67-47.

-UMaine-