By Kalle Oakes,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – What a difference a week-and-a-half and not playing Southern Maine make.

Toughened by its pre-holiday encounter with one of the teams favored to win the NCAA Division III championship, the University of Maine at Farmington women’s basketball team picked on someone its own size Wednesday night. The Beavers opened North Atlantic Conference play with an authoritative 81-62 victory over Thomas College at Dearborn Gymnasium.

It was over early, with UMF’s size underneath the basket and quickness in the backcourt spelling doom for the less experienced Terriers.

Junior Kari Simpson erupted for a season-high 26 points, scoring all but seven of those before the half and staking UMF (2-1) to a 44-27 advantage.

Seniors Melissa Sawyer and Meagan Cyr added 10 points apiece, while Brandi Rideout and Karen Sirois each contributed eight for Farmington.

Simpson was a nuisance to Thomas (2-1) both inside and outside. The six-foot forward knocked down two of Farmington’s four 3-pointers.

Thomas didn’t suit up a senior and substituted five players at a time throughout the game in an effort to keep up with the Beavers’ brimming bench.

Freshman Toby Martin led Thomas with 21 points and three treys. Kim Drosdik also connected for three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points. Charlee Hayes chipped in 10.

UMF, which hadn’t played since its 83-50 home loss to USM on Nov. 19, raced out to an early 8-2 lead on the shoulders of Rideout, Sawyer and Simpson. The Beavers worked the ball inside at will and stepped to the free-throw line early and often, hitting 17-of-22 from the stripe in the first half.

Thomas clawed within four, 14-10, on a Drosdik 3-pointer with 15:06 remaining in the half. But that touched off an 11-2 run by UMF. Simpson scored seven in that span, including her second three-ball.

Thomas couldn’t whittle the gap under 15 in the second half. The Beavers continued to break the Terriers’ pressure with pinpoint outlet passes for easy hoops. Simpson, Cyr and Samantha Wiley each scored in that fashion to put it out of reach at 65-39 with 10 minutes to go.