ORONO — Anne Simon’s smile was five years in the making. This was why she came back to the University of Maine for a fifth season – to win an America East women’s basketball championship.

The America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, Simon led the way for the Black Bears in the conference championship game Friday at The Pit with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and one group hug as the clock ran out on Maine’s 64-48 win over Vermont.

“I knew we could do it. It’s just amazing,” Simon said.

The top-seeded Black Bears (24-9) earned their first America East title since 2019 and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. They’ll find out where they’re headed and who they’ll face when the tournament selection show airs on ESPN at 8 p.m. Sunday.

“I feel like today, we talk about it a lot, we really did take it one possession at the time,” Maine Coach Amy Vachon said. “We were really intentional with everything we did. Everyone contributed.”

Simon was named most outstanding player of the tournament.

The Black Bears led by as many as 22 points early in the fourth quarter and withstood a brief run by Vermont (22-11) that cut the margin to 58-46 with just under four minutes remaining.

With all-conference forward Adrianna Smith on the bench much of the game because of foul trouble, Maine’s scoring was as balanced as it’s been all season. Four players were in double figures, led by Smith (16 points) and Simon. Windham’s Sarah Talon scored 12 points, while Olivia Rockwood added 10. Paula Gallego chipped in nine points for the Black Bears, who scored 16 points off 13 Vermont turnovers.

“We have ballers on our team. Like Paula, she’s a dog,” said Smith, who played just eight minutes in the second half. “She’s going to come in and do what she needs to do. I saw it from her even from shootaround today.”

With Smith on the bench, Maine went with a small lineup, and that created matchup problems for the Catamounts, who struggled with the quickness of the Black Bears.

“It’s tough to defend five guards,” Vermont Coach Alisa Kresge said. “That was really tough, matchup-wise.”

Maine opened the second half with an 11-4 run to push the lead to 45-29, and it was 51-33 going to the fourth quarter.

Starting the third quarter strong was a point of emphasis, Simon said, as was putting pressure on Vermont’s ball handlers throughout the game. Emma Utterback, Vermont’s all-conference guard, entered the game averaging 14.5 points, but she was held to six. Forward Anna Olson led the Catamounts with 21 points. No one else reached double figures.

“They have great players on their team. I mean, Olson was amazing tonight. We didn’t really find a way to stop her. But I think we just wanted to make them uncomfortable,” Simon said. “They’re a team, they know what they want to run. We just had to make sure we had a lot of ball pressure and force shots they don’t want to take.”

Maine led 34-25 at halftime. After trailing by nine points in the first quarter, Vermont got as close as three early in the second quarter, 18-15, on an Utterback basket.

Smith spent much of the second quarter on the bench with two fouls, but the Black Bears got contributions from their role players to expand their lead. Talon scored nine points over the final four minutes of the quarter, capping her hot run with a long 3-pointer with 16 seconds left as the shot clock expired to give Maine a 34-22 lead. Vermont’s Andjela Matic answered with a 3 at the buzzer.

“Knowing my teammates have the confidence in me to shoot the ball when I’m open, it makes you want to take the next shot. It’s something I need to work on,” Talon said.

After struggling to find a shooting rhythm in the first two games of the tournament, Maine had a better scoring touch early against Vermont. Rockwood made a 3 on the Black Bears’ first shot of the game. In the second quarter, Maine missed its first six shots, then made seven of its next eight.

Vachon said rebounding was a key, noting the Black Bears had six players with at least one defensive rebound.

For the game, Maine shot 45% (27 for 60), while limiting Vermont to 37.5% (18-48) from the floor. The Catamounts were 1 for 8 from 3-point range.

“We knew they have other players (besides Simon and Smith) who are capable. They’re all very good players,” Vermont senior forward Delaney Richason said.

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