Orono, Maine -- Anne Simon tallied 17 of her game-high 24 points in the second half as the Black Bears used a strong fourth quarter performance to defeat Binghamton in the America East quarterfinal round, 64-54, on Wednesday night in front of a raucous 1,065 fans at Memorial Gymnasium.

With the win, Maine advances to the America East semifinal round for the ninth consecutive season where it will travel to meet No. 3 seed UAlbany on Sunday, March 5 at 3 p.m. in a rematch of last season's America East title game.

Simon finished her impressive performance with 24 points on 7-for-16 shooting, including four triples, while going a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line with nine rebounds. Adrianna Smith registered her 16th double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 boards to go along with five assists while Olivia Rockwood came off the bench to hit three, big triples en route to an 11 point evening.

Maine, which turned it over 11 times in the first two quarters, featured just one turnover in the second half. The Black Bears shot 20-of-54 from the floor with nine triples while going 15-of-16 from the free throw stripe. The Black Bears won the rebounding battle, 37-32, for the 17th time this season and improved to 11-1 against league opponents when controlling the boards.

In a game which featured 15 lead changes and a pair of ties, neither team was able to build more than a five point lead until midway through the fourth quarter.

The teams traded the lead three times in the first quarter and four times in the second period.

Maine snatched its largest lead of the first quarter late in the period when, while leading by one, Simon knocked down a triple to put Maine on top, 14-10, after one.

The Bearcats responded with a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the half, 17-14, with 8:02 remaining in the second quarter.

Maine had the answer, beginning on a deep jumper from Jaycie Christopher, with a 6-0 run. Smith, working off a turnover, buried a bucket to regain the lead for Maine before Abbe Laurence's layup off a feed by Sera Hodgson put Maine back on top, 20-17.

The teams traded the lead two more times as the quarter expired. Maine would enter the break holding a 25-24 edge.

The Bearcats were able to build their largest lead of the game at 31-27 when they opened the third quarter on a 7-2 run.

Five straight points from Simon, including a key triple to put her into double-digits, gave Maine the lead once again, with 6:57 left in the third.

Binghamton's lead would stretch to three before Rockwood knocked down back-to-back triples to put Maine back on top, 40-37.

The Bearcats regained the lead before Maine again went to the three-point shot with Simon and Rockwood both netting buckets from downtown to lift Maine's lead to five, 46-41, after three.

With Maine's lead at three early in the fourth, the Black Bears began to put the game away. A 7-0 run, keyed by a triple from Simon off a turnover to give the senior 20 points, gave Maine its first double-digit advantage of the night with 5:42 remaining in regulation.

Binghamton was unable to cut the deficit below eight the rest of the way as Maine knocked down five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the victory, 64-54.

Maine will travel to UAlbany for semifinal action on March 5 where it will meet the Great Danes for the nine postseason meeting between the two programs.

-UMaine-