BANGOR — Amy Vachon may not be as active on the sideline as head coach Richard Barron usually is, but she can get excited.

Vachon, the University of Maine women’s basketball associate head coach, directed the Black Bears on Saturday while Barron is on an indefinite medical leave with an undisclosed illness.

Vachon stayed seated most of the time Saturday, except to pop up, urging her team’s defense. And that defense was stifling in a 72-40 victory over Maryland-Baltimore County before 1,673 at the Cross Insurance Center.

Maine held the Retrievers to 23 percent shooting and caused 17 turnovers.

“We wanted to be aggressive defensively,” said Vachon, who was especially animated when her team forced two shot-clock violations in the first half.

For all their defensive might, the Black Bears led only 26-18 at halftime before getting their offensive gears in motion. Freshmen guards Blanca Millan (17 points) and Julie Brosseau (12) paced the Black Bears.

Maine played its second straight game without Sigi Koizar, its senior leading scorer and point guard who has a thigh contusion.

“It was different because Sigi always has the ball in her hand,” said Brosseau, who handled the point.

“But I think we did a pretty good job.”

Brosseau and Millan both had four assists, and forward Anita Kelava had six. In all, Maine had 21 assists on 26 baskets.

“That’s great. We played together the entire game,” said Vachon, a former standout point guard for the Black Bears.

While Maine missed shots in the beginning, the Black Bears smothered UMBC. Millan, a 5-foot-11 guard, covered All-Conference first-team guard Taylor McCarley, holding her to 10 points (3-of-13 shooting). McCarley likes to drive to her left and Millan kept forcing her to the right.

“I was trying to get into the offense,” McCarley said. “But if I can’t go to my left …”

UMBC, picked to finish second in America East with Maine third, likes to work the ball inside.

Maine forced the Retrievers into a boatload of bad shots.

“We usually pass and cut. They’re obviously a long team,” UMBC Coach Phil Stern said of Maine’s ample wingspans. “They did a good job getting up on us and pressuring us, and making us start our offense a little higher.”

Maine’s shooting exploded in the third quarter, when the Black Bears began with a 17-2 run, including three 3-pointers by Millan.

With Koizar out and junior Tanesha Sutton in foul trouble, the top six Maine players Saturday were freshmen. And they romped.

“They haven’t been playing up to their capability. I know what their capability is and I know what they can do,” Vachon said. “Does this (score) surprise me? No. Coach (Barron) says we can win by 30 or lose by 20. We have to find that consistency.”

Vachon said it was “a little strange” running the team in Barron’s absence.

“It’s definitely emotional,” Vachon said. “This game is a reflection of Coach Barron. Yes, I’m here and he’s not, but he’s been (coaching this team) for six years.

“It was all four of us (Vachon and three assistants) doing this. I was the one standing up once in a while but it was the whole staff coaching that game.”

Maine next plays Wednesday at UMass-Lowell.

The Black Bears return to Bangor on Jan. 16 for a 1 p.m. game against Hartford.

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