ORONO – Twenty minutes until vacation.

That’s what the University of Maine women’s basketball team was thinking as it left the locker room after hafltime Saturday afternoon.

After a long week of finals and a week’s rest ahead, the Black Bears made those final 20 minutes count. UMaine opened the half with a 10-0 run and held off a late Michigan charge in a 69-61 victory at the Alfond Arena.

“The first four minutes at the beginning of the game and the first four minutes of the second half are huge,” said guard Kim Corbitt. “We knew that team wasn’t going to go away. So we came out strong in the second half.”

UMaine built the lead with a strong 10-2 to start. The Wolverines were playing catchup the rest of the way. Though Michigan got within four in the final minutes, UMaine thwarted that threat to earn just its second-ever victory over a Big 10 Conference team.

“We know this is the toughest schedule anyone’s ever played at UMaine,” said Coach Sharon Versyp. “It just prepares us and a lot of people didn’t think we’d be 4-4 right now.”

Bracey Barker continued her emergence with 20 points while Monica Peterson added 17. Missy Traversi had 12, and Corbitt added 10. Barker has 62 points in her last three games and 19 rebounds.

“We’ve known since we recruited her that she’s going to rebound and going to shoot and be very hard to defend,” said Versypr. “Bracey knows that when she’s open, she’s got the the green light to shoot. We’re just really excited about her progress.”

The Black Bears fast-pace attack and aggressiveness gave Michigan a hard time. When UMaine went to the halfcourt game, it had success getting the ball into the post.

“We’ve been working on that all week,” said Barker. “We knew that they would be fronting us.”

Though Tabitha Pool led Michigan with 29 points, including 18 of her team’s 24 first half points, the Black Bears managed to slow her down a little in the second half.

“I thought we did a little better on her,” said Barker. “Monica went on her. She was a little quicker than I was. She was a good player.”

Two Pool free throws had Michigan within 33-26 to start the second half, but UMaine then ran off 10 straight. Jumpers by Corbitt and Peterson got things rolling. Traversi followed with a drive. After two Abby Schrader free throws, she finished off a nifty Corbitt pass for a 43-26 lead. Michigan didn’t get its first field goal of the second half until 4:24. UMaine shot 50 percent from the floor in each half.

“I thought we did a good job staying aggressive the whole game,” said Corbitt. “We’ve had a tendency to get complacent.”

Michigan did trim the lead to 63-59 with 1:17 left. A 3 from Becky Flippin and a three-point play by Pool had the Wolverines rallying, but UMaine got two free throws from Traversi and a press breaker hoop from Peterson to extend the lead.

“We battled and got out to a great start in the first and second half,” said Versyp. “I’m just really proud of the way we played after finals weeks. The kids worked hard and they’re tired and exhausted, but they pulled through.”

The Black Bears raced out to the early lead. Back-to-back hoops by Traversi had Michigan in a 10-2 hole early. UMaine maintained that lead throughout the first half.

The Black Bears used its inside game and fast break effectively to keep the lead. The Wolverines could only get as close as 26-22 late in the half on baskets by Pool. A jumper by Peterson and a 3 from Corbitt put the Black Bears back up by 33-24 at the half.