BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Thirteenth-ranked Williams College used a 27-4 spurt over the middle portion of the opening period to gain a double-digit advantage, on its way to a 71-49 victory over the University of New England in non-conference women's basketball action Monday afternoon at James A. Beaudry Gymnasium.

The Ephs -- ranked in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll -- improve to 11-0 on the year, while the Nor'easters drop to 6-2. Both of UNE's setbacks this season have come against teams slotted in the national rankings.

Williams junior Claire Baecher (Brunswick, Maine) led the way for the visitors with 15 points and a game-best eight rebounds. The forward scored all seven of her first-half points during the key stretch.

Senior Jill Greenberg (Westwood, Mass.) went for 14 points and seven assists -- 10 points coming in the initial 20 minutes. Junior Jennie Harding (Santa Monica, Calif.) added 13 points and grabbed five first-half offensive rebounds. Classmate Grace Rehnquist (Sharon, Mass.) connected on three first-half shots from deep to finish with 11 points, and also corralled seven boards.

For Big Blue, junior Beth Suggs (Bath, Maine) was the lone player in double figures with a match-high 17 points, on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Senior Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) hit three second-half treys to end with nine points.

Suggs put the hosts out to a 6-0 lead three minutes into the contest, and got two more up on the board after a Greenberg trifecta to make it 8-3 with 3:17 gone. From there, the Ephs reeled off 18 consecutive points in a 4:26 span to jump ahead, 21-8.

The pace slowed over the next five minutes, but six of the following eight points in the game went for Williams as it built a 27-10 cushion. UNE reduced the margin to 10 (27-17) inside the last two minutes of the frame, only to see the Ephs extended the gap to 15 (33-18) heading into halftime. The Nor'easters struggled to shoot just 22.7 percent (5-for-22) from the floor in the stanza.

UNE got within 10 on three ocassions during the early-going of the second half -- the last time (45-35) with 10:14 to go -- but could not get any closer. A Williams 11-1 run in the ensuing 2:56 -- including five from Harding -- bumped the lead up to 20 (56-36), and the teams played nearly even the rest of the way.

The Ephs converted 51.7 percent (15 of 29) of their field goal tries in the final session to maintain control.

Big Blue is back in action Wednesday (6 p.m.) when Bates College visits Biddeford. Williams next plays on Friday (6 p.m.) at home, as it kicks-off its NESCAC slate with a date against Tufts University.