ORONO (AP) – A somber Black Bear hockey team returned to campus Friday following the team’s ouster from the NCAA tournament.

The team took a chartered flight back to Bangor before riding a bus back to the Alfond Arena to unload gear upon the end of the season.

Coach Tim Whitehead, whose mother-in-law was killed in a crash on an icy overpass en route to the game on Thursday in St. Louis, did not speak to reporters.

He planned to join his wife once plans for a funeral were sorted out, officials said.

Whitehead did not tell his players about his family’s loss until after the NCAA semifinal against Michigan State. Maine lost 4-2.

The university later issued a short press release confirming that Dena Whitehead’s mother, Debra Smith, had died Thursday morning in a highway accident.

“Our hearts and prayers go out to Dena and Tim and their families,” UMaine president Robert Kennedy said.

The accident happened about 5:30 a.m. Thursday on Interstate 70 near Springfield, Ohio – about three hours from Debra Smith’s home in Medina, Ohio, near Akron.

Whitehead’s mother-in-law, Debra Smith, 57, of Medina, Ohio, was lying down, sleeping in the back seat of the SUV her husband was driving when the vehicle slid on an icy overpass and into the path of a tractor-trailer, Ohio State Highway Patrol Sgt. Terry Bush said. Smith was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, where she died.

Bush said the 2001 Ford Explorer driven by Smith’s husband, Timothy, slid into a concrete retaining wall and veered back onto the interstate. It was struck by a semi driven by 43-year-old Ivan Matev of Parma Heights, Ohio. He was not injured.

Timothy Smith and the couple’s son, 34-year-old Brad Smith, were taken to a hospital, but their injuries did not appear to be serious, Bush said.

The accident remained under investigation.

AP-ES-04-06-07 1650EDT