HANOVER — Annie McKenna lifted her head. After looking at the table for a few minutes to take a breather, the senior had a question directed toward her in the Dartmouth women’s basketball team room.

It’s not that the senior was uninterested; she was just enjoying a moment to herself. She had just played all 40 minutes for the fourth time this season.

McKenna finished Tuesday afternoon with a game-high 18 points, lifting the Big Green to a 57-41 victory over Maine on Education Day at Leede Arena. Dartmouth held the Black Bears to just nine points and 3 of 26 from the floor in the second half.

The win stopped a three-game losing streak for Dartmouth and marked the first win over the Black Bears since 2006.

“I’m going to try and stay off my legs as much as I can,” McKenna said with a smile.

With 7:50 to play in the second quarter, Maine held a 17-10 lead. The Black Bears were on the verge of pulling away, forcing Big Green coach Belle Koclanes to call a timeout. McKenna was 0 of 2 from the floor and was struggling to produce opportunities.

But out of the timeout, something seemed to click.

The 5-foot-5 senior knocked down three 3s within a span of 2 minutes, 18 seconds to cut Maine’s lead to a point and give Dartmouth a much-needed momentum swing.

Maine stretched its lead back to double digits, but McKenna led the Big Green charge yet again by dishing out two assists that helped cut the deficit to three at the half.

“This young woman (McKenna) is carrying us in a lot of ways,” said Koclanes, in her seventh season. “She’s got the ball in her hands for 40 minutes, running an offense and defense. So for her to keep those legs strong and knock down 3s, it’s huge. You’re going to continue to see her do that all year in her senior season.”

Dartmouth took the lead on an Anna Luce 3-pointer over a minute into the second half and went on to outscore Maine 15-5 in the third quarter.

Maine’s scoring drought in the second half can also be attributed to the Black Bears being down six players, including lead-scorer Blanca Millan, who is out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury. Starter Maddy McVicar did not play.

The Big Green didn’t rely on McKenna’s deep shooting in the second half. Instead, they ran the court well, producing 16 points in the paint.

After being pushed around inside in the first half, Dartmouth responded by out-rebounding the Black Bears 25-15 and forcing eight turnovers.

Paula Lenart’s nine second-half rebounds had a significant impact on momentum.

“She (Paula) was a beast on the board for us,” McKenna said. “Her being out there is huge for us. We are an undersized team, but we actually outsized some today.”

The win improves Dartmouth to 4-3 on the season, but there’s still much to improve on.

The bench contributed just four points and Koclanes sticks to a mainly seven-player rotation.

While stopping the losing streak was the goal Tuesday, Koclanes said that she’ll need much more depth from her bench in Ivy League play.

Maine only managed 12 points off 18 Dartmouth turnovers, a ratio that is unlikely to hold in future contests. The Big Green shot just 13 of 22 from the free-throw line.

McKenna’s hot hand couldn’t have come at a better time, but 57 points a game will only get the Big Green so far.

Koclanes said that their team goal is to score 20 points a quarter — their highest quarter total on Tuesday was 19 in the second quarter.

Dartmouth currently has five sophomores vying for minutes. Koclanes will have another chance to distribute them when the Big Green visit UMass Lowell on Friday.

“We have a lot of youth that is still growing, developing and getting richer,” she said. “Trying to get them some experience here in there so that we can build our bench. It’s always about the bench come Ivy League when you play those back-to-back games.”

Pete Nakos can be reached at pnakos@vnews.com.