Orono, Maine -- Adrianna Smith became the 22nd player in University of Maine women's basketball history to eclipse 1,000 career points while Anne Simon added a 31 point night as the Black Bears earned their fifth-straight victory with an 80-57 decision over Bryant on Thursday evening.

The win improved Maine to 17-8 and 10-1 in America East play while Bryant fell to 12-13, 5-7 in league action.

It was a tale of two halves for the Black Bears who, after scoring 25 points in the opening half, came out on fire in the second. Maine, which shot 20-for-32 (62.5) including an impressive 10-for-13 from three-point range, in the second half outscored the Bulldogs 55-32 over the final 20 minutes.

Simon, who has now tallied 30-plus points in back-to-back outings, finished with a game-high 31 points on 11-of-18 shooting with four triples. Adrianna Smith posted her 18th double-double of the season, and eighth in her last nine outings, with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go along with six assists. Sera Hodgson added four triples for 12 points while Caroline Bornemann finished 5-of-7 from the floor for 12 points.

Maine, which entered 25th in the country in turnovers per game, assisted on 22 of its 28 made field goals while giving it away a season-low four times.

Defensively, the Black Bears forced 21 turnovers while turning the mishaps into a 27-1 advantage in points off turnovers.

Bryant opened the game on a 15-6 run to take its largest lead of the game at nine with 2:01 left in the first quarter.

Trailing by eight with 6:23 left in the half, Maine's offense began to click. The Black Bears staged a 9-2 run with Simon's driving layup off a steal cut the lead to one. Following a Bryant bucket, Simon's triple with just 21-seconds remaining in the second quarter tied the score at 25-25 heading into the break.

Maine came out of the half locked in as it would shoot 10-of-15 from the floor, 5-of-6 from three, in the third quarter.

With the game tied at 29-all, the Black Bears pieced together a 7-0 run. Buckets from Bornemann and Simon started the action before Simon's triple off a Bryant turnover extended Maine's lead out to seven, 36-29.

Maine's lead would be six with 2:47 left in the third before the Black Bears went on a rapid 11-2 run over the two plus minutes. Back-to-back triples from Bornemann and Hodgson sent Maine's lead to 14. Bryant ended the 8-0 run with a short jumper before a three from Simon gave Maine a 53-38 advantage.

The Black Bears continued to hold the edge, leading by 14 with 4:48 to play, and looked to put the game away with a 15-3 run down the stretch. A pair of triples from Rockwood and Idan Shlush sandwiched a deep jumper from Sarah Talon before Caroline Dotsey's pair of free throws gave Maine its largest lead of the night, 80-54.

Maine would complete the 80-57 victory to remain undefeated at home in conference play.

The Black Bears return to action on Saturday when they travel to take on Vermont at 4 p.m.

-UMaine-