ORONO — The UMass Lowell women’s basketball team came to the Pit for an America East quarterfinal with only four wins all season. Maine had seven wins in February alone.

But conference tournament season is not the regular season. Upsets lurk around every corner, and it took the Black Bears all 40 minutes of Friday’s quarterfinal to avoid falling victim to the biggest upset in conference history. Tied with the eighth-seeded River Hawks at halftime and ahead by just three points after three quarters, top-seeded Maine found just enough offense in the fourth quarter to take a 49-43 win in front of 1,320 fans.

Maine (22-9) will host a semifinal at 6 p.m. Monday in the Pit against fifth-seeded Binghamton. UMass Lowell ends the season at 4-25.

“Kudos to Lowell. They’ve gotten a ton better over the course of the year,” said Maine assistant coach Courtney England, speaking after the game on behalf of head coach Amy Vachon, who had to leave immediately after the game to attend the McDonald’s high school basketball awards banquet and accept an award for her father, former Cony High girls’ basketball coach Paul Vachon.

“It’s March. It’s survive and advance. So, you can either harp on what happened or move on to the next thing. There’s not enough time to think about it… We have to figure out a way to execute better.”

Maine beat Lowell by double figures in both regular-season meetings, 55-43 at Lowell on Jan. 4 and 68-49 at the Pit on Feb. 1. The Black Bears avoided becoming the first top seed in the America East tournament to fall in the quarterfinals since Boston University beat Maine in 2005.

Maine shot just 30.9% from the floor (17 for 55) – its worst shooting game since making just 18 of 64 shots in a 54-47 loss at Albany on Jan. 25. The key was the River Hawks playing tough defense on Maine’s two stars, guard Anne Simon and forward Adrianna Smith. The first-team all-conference players shot a combined 8 for 32.

“Defense is really about heart. Other games, we didn’t show up. We didn’t have heart,” River Hawks guard Sydney Wallace said. “This game, we made a decision to defend. There’s no math to it.”

Smith struggled to find her shooting touch in the low post for three quarters. She didn’t make a field goal until late in the third, missing her first six shots. Smith did go 8 for 8 at the free-throw line, however, and scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to help the Black Bears pull away. She also had 10 assists and eight rebounds.

Simon, the conference’s Player of the Year, made just 5 of 20 shots, including 1 of 8 in the second half. She finished with 12 points.

Where the Black Bears shined was on the boards. Maine grabbed 36 rebounds, including 14 offensive, to the River Hawks’ 25 rebounds. Smith pointed to the all-around defensive effort, particularly that of Simon, who had four steals and seven rebounds.

“Our defense made it so we can shoot like that and still win the basketball game,” Smith said. “Anne, she had four steals. Her defensive intensity, she’s always locked in. That carries us. I know that carries me throughout on defense.”

Caroline Bornemann’s layup and free throw with 2:23 to go gave Maine a 43-38 lead – the Black Bears largest to that point. It came on a play that Maine had tried to run throughout the game with no success, England said.

Olivia Rockwood’s 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in the first half sent the Black Bears to the break tied at 19-19, and Maine was lucky to be even after one of its worst shooting halves of the season. The Black Bears were just 7 of 28 from the floor. While Maine grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the first half, it failed to convert any into second-chance points. Maine also committed seven turnovers in the first half, which Lowell turned into six points.

Bornemann finished with 12 points, while Rockwood had nine on three 3-pointers.

Leilani Rodriquez led the River Hawks with 12 points. Wallace added 11.

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