Orono, ME - The University of Maine women's basketball team made it a perfect opening week of America East action as they took down Vermont at The Pit on Saturday afternoon, 60-48, making it a 2-0 start to conference play.

Following an opening quarter that saw the Catamounts take a two-point lead into the first break of the contest, Maine rallied back with a strong 17-12 second quarter which led them into halftime up by three-points at 29-26.

The strong second quarter helped fuel an even stronger third quarter that saw the Black Bears double the output by Vermont at a 20-10 mark, giving Maine a 13-point lead heading into the final quarter of play, which Vermont only chipped one-point off of the big deficit in the final score of 60-48 in favor of the Black Bears.

Maine's defense was a big factor in their second-straight conference win to open up America East play as they held Vermont to just 31.6% shooting from the field, highlighted by a 20% shooting performance in the fourth quarter.

Anne Simon continued her dominate stretch of scoring as she reached double-digits for the 10th-straight game as she scored 20 points. To add to her scoring numbers, she also picked up a double-double as she grabbed 10 rebounds, swiped six steals and dished out four assists.

Adrianna Smith finished the contest with 15 points and seven rebounds. The Black Bears got solid contributions from Sera Hodgson (8 points), and Paula Gallego (5 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists) off the bench in the contest.

Maine (9-7, 2-0 AE) head on the road for their next matchup as they face off against long time rival New Hampshire on Thursday, Jan. 11. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 P.M. in Durham, NH.

-UMaine-