Orono, Maine -- Anne Simon scored 21 of her game-high 25 points in the second half as the Black Bears took down the preseason favorite in the Atlantic-10, Rhode Island, by a final of 59-48. The win, Maine's third in a row, moves the Black Bears to 3-1 on the season and 2-0 at home.

Rhode Island, who entered the evening averaging 84.5 points per game, were held to just 48 thanks to Maine's stifling defense. For the third-straight game, Maine was able to hold an opponent under 50 points as the Rams shot just 28.6-percent (20-for-70) from the floor including a 1-for-22 showing from three-point range.

Simon, who tallied 20+ points for the third consecutive outing, added five rebounds and three assists to her impressive night. Adrianna Smith notched her second double-double in as many games with 14 points and 10 rebounds while falling just two assists shy of a triple double.

The Black Bears finished 25-of-59 from the floor (42.4), 7-of-17 from three-point range, and shot 14-for-28 (50.0) in the second half. Maine has now won the rebounding battle in each of its first four games as it edged the Rams in the rebounding column, 44-43.

Neither team could create distance early as Maine clung to a 12-11 lead after one quarter.

Maine snatched its largest lead of the first half, 14-11, on a driving left-handed layup from Simon to begin the second quarter.

Rhode Island answered with a 15-7 run over the next eight minutes to take its largest lead of the game, 26-21.

The Rams would enter the break with a 27-25 edge.

Trailing by four with 6:05 left in the third quarter, the Black Bears would tie the game on back-to-back triples from Simon on either side of a Rhode Island bucket. The Simon sprint would start a string of 15-straight points scored by the graduate guard spanning the end of the third quarter and into the fourth.

Simon would tie the game late in the third before swiping a pass at the top of the key and sprint down court for a pair to put Maine back on top, 42-40, at the end of the third.

The run would extend to 7-0 when Simon nailed a triple to begin the fourth before converting on a short jumper in the paint. The sprint extended Maines' lead to seven, 47-40, with 57-seconds gone in the final quarter.

Rhode Island trimmed the lead to seven before Maine responded, this time with a 4-0 run on a bucket from Caroline Bornemann off an offensive board from Smith and a second chance hoop from Simon.

The run gave Maine its largest lead of the contest, 55-44, with 4:55 to play.

Rhode Island could not cut the lead any lower than nine as the Black Bears went on to tally their third consecutive victory, 59-48.

The Black Bears return to action when they begin a three-game set at Drake by meeting Richmond in a neutral site showdown on Nov. 24.

-UMaine-