THE BASICS:
 
RESULT: No. 1 Maine 74, No. 6 Hartford 65
RECORDS: Hartford (19-13), Maine (23-9)
LOCATION: Cross Insurance Center (Bangor, Maine)
 
THE LEAD:
 
A big third-quarter run allowed top-seeded Maine to get past the sixth-seeded University of Hartford women's basketball team on Friday, as the Black Bears captured the 2018 America East Championship with a 74-65 victory in front of a packed Cross Insurance Center. Blanca Millan, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, led all scorers with 22 points, while senior Janelle Harrison posted 13 points to pace the Hawks.

Seniors Janelle Harrison and Darby Lee were named to the America East All-Championship Team, joining Maine's Millan and Parise Rossignol.

The Hawks' 19 wins are the most since 2012-13, when the team posted a 19-13 record.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 

• The hot hand of Julie Brosseau allowed Maine to get out to a 15-8 lead in the opening minutes of the game. Going 3-of-3 from behind the arc, she accounted for 11 of the Black Bears' points during that stretch to put the home team in front by seven with 4:46 left in the first.
• The Hawks responded, though, ending the quarter on an 11-3 run to take a one-point edge heading into the second. Junior Kelly Douglass helped fuel that run with a pair of three-pointers.
• The two sides traded blows for the second quarter, with neither team taking more than a three-point advantage during that stretch. With Maine up by two with 91 seconds before the break, freshman Jade Young knotted up the score at 26-26 on a putback in the final seconds.
• The back-and-forth action continued after the break, with both teams exchanging six buckets to the tune of a 46-44 Black Bears' edge. But Maine ended the stanza on a roll, scoring 14 of the final 17 points to take a 60-47 lead heading into the fourth.
• The Black Bears went up by as many as 16 (67-51) with 6:34 to go, but the Hawks cut into their deficit with six-answered points. Hartford wouldn't get any closer until the final minutes, though, as Maine held on to claim the league's tournament title.

 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE & NOTES:
 

• Hartford made a historic run to the America East Championship's title game, becoming the first No. 6 seed to advance that far in the postseason.
• Harrison shot 6-of-6 from the field, as Hartford finished the game shooting 48.9 percent (23-of-47).
• Sierra DaCosta added 10 points for Hartford.
• Maine, which shot 60 percent in what proved to be the decisive third quarter (9-of-15), when 50 percent from the field on 25-of-50.
• Abed, who added nine points, handed out a game-best eight assists.
• The Hawks lose four-year members Harrison, Lee and Pattison to graduation. Harrison pulled down the 13th-most rebounds in program history (558) while Lee closed out her career with 1,052 points.