BANGOR — The Maine women’s basketball team played a near-perfect first half Thursday.

And was just getting started.

The Black Bears made their first nine field goals to put New Hampshire on its heels, then made 10 of their first 12 in the second half to put the Wildcats on ice in an 87-56 victory before an announced crowd of 1,452 at the Cross Insurance Center.

It was Maine’s seventh consecutive victory, a streak last accomplished 10 years ago. It was also the highest point total and largest margin of victory of the season.

Most important, it put the Black Bears (15-6, 7-1 America East) in sole possession of second place with a trip Sunday to first-place Albany.

Liz Wood led Maine with 24 points and seven rebounds, making 9 of 10 shots. Sigi Koizar added 18 points and seven assists. The Black Bears’ starting five shot an incredible 73.7 percent from the floor (28 of 38).

The consensus from Koizar and Wood afterward was that the game was “fun.”

“It was fun, especially at home. For me, I love playing in front of the crowd at the Cross Center,” Wood said. “Recently they’ve gotten really into the games and that picks us up, that makes it more fun for us.

“We hit a big shot and we hear the crowd go crazy, there’s no better feeling than that. It was a lot of fun tonight. We hit a lot of big shots. … When the shots are going in, the game is …”

Wood hesitated and looked at Koizar.

“Fun,” they said in unison.

Anna Heise added 17 points for Maine and Sophie Weckstrom chipped in 12. The Black Bears shot 12 of 21 from the 3-point arc (57.1 percent).

New Hampshire (14-6, 6-2) came in with a five-game winning streak but there was no fun on the visiting bench. The Wildcats trailed 40-24 at halftime and were down 60-33 six minutes into the second half.

“We didn’t really do anything to take them out of their rhythm at all,” New Hampshire Coach Maureen Magarity said. “We were always about a step and a half slow on our defensive rotations, and they knocked down a lot of open shots.”

The Wildcats got 14 points apiece from Elizabeth Belanger and Kristen Anderson of Greene. Anderson quieted the crowd with 4:51 left when she landed heavily on her knee and had to be removed from the game. Her sister, Courtney Anderson, a Maine senior, came over to clutch her hand as she lay on the court before limping off to loud applause.

Magarity said Anderson was expected to be OK after being checked by medical staff.

It was the only solemn moment of the night for a Maine team that played its best game in a stretch that has included four consecutive double-digit wins.

“I think today was really the first day that we saw the offensive efficiency that we see in practice a lot,” Wood said. “It’s been a little bit frustrating not seeing that in games because we know we’re capable of it.”

The timing could be perfect. Maine has lost 10 consecutive games to Albany, the three-time defending league champion.

“Hopefully this is something we can repeat,” Maine Coach Richard Barron said. “They caught us on the wrong night.”