Two of the League's Top Scorers Square Off in the America East Opener
12/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes
ORONO, Maine – Maine (2-10) opens the 2010-11 America East slate on the road against the preseason coaches' poll favorite Boston U. (3-9) Sunday at 1 p.m. in Case Gym. The game features two of the league's top-10 scorers in Alex Young and Amber Smith (Ipswich, Mass./Ipswich). Young leads the Terriers and the conference with 14.8 points per game, while Smith is sixth in the America East with 11.9 a contest.
Smith is one of three Black Bears who have scored 100 points this season. Freshman Ashleigh Roberts (Wilmington, Del./Concord) is second on the team with 9.0 points per game, while Katelyn Vanderhoff (Lititz, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite) is third with 8.7 a contest. Vanderhoff and Roberts both reached 100 points in UMaine's 66-62 win over UMass Wednesday night.
The Black Bears snapped a nine-game skid to pick up their second win of the season and their only home game in December. Vanderhoff led Maine's scoring effort against the Minutewomen with a career-high 18 points and a career-high five made three pointers. Maine also extended their record when leading in the final five minutes to 18-8 under head coach Cindy Blodgett.
Maine used their largest rebounding margin of the season to own the boards 46-31. UMaine's previous best margin was six against Harvard in the season opener. The Black Bears posted 46 boards for the second-straight game and were led by Corinne Wellington's (Rochester, N.Y./Wilson Magnet) nine boards. Wellington has tallied nine or more boards in a career-best three of the last four games.
The Terriers were selected as the preseason America East favorite in the annual coaches poll. Boston U. also had three players selected to the Preseason All-Conference team. They are currently 3-9 on the season with wins over Yale, Colgate and UMass. They won the three contests by a combined score of 227-169.
Boston U. ranks second in the league with 60.5 points per game. Alex Young leads the league with 14.8 points per game, and former Rookie of the Year, Chantell Alford sits in seventh place with 11.8 points per game.
The Terriers played their first game in 20 days at Providence Friday and fell 65-55. Chantell Alford scored 19 points on 8 of 23 field goals to lead the Terriers. Alex Young added 16 points but made only six of her 19 shots from the field.
The Black Bears own a 40-26 all-time record against the Terriers but are 1-6 in the last three years. The lone win came in the first meeting between the two schools in the 2007-08 season. Maine defeated Boston U. 82-77 behind 22 points and eight rebounds from Tanna Ross (Newburgh, Maine/Hampden Academy). Ross went 10 for 11 from the free-throw line and drained six field goals. Four other players scored in double figures for UMaine and helped them score 41 points in both halves.
Both contests last season were close and were decided by an average 6.5 points per game. BU snapped Maine's two-game win streak going into the conference opener last season with a 71-65 win at Alfond Arena. The contest in Case Gym was a low-scoring affair with Boston U. winning 56-49. The Black Bears fought back from a 13-point deficit in the first half to keep the contest close in the second half. Maine outscored the Terriers 26-23 in the second period.
For fans who cannot make it to the game in Boston, Don Shields will provide radio play-by-play on the Black Bear Sports Network starting 30 minutes prior to tip-off of the game. The game can be heard on either WAEI-FM 97.1, WAEI 910 AM or GoBlackBears.com, while live stats and video will be available on www.GoBlackBears.com(.)
