Women's Basketball Hosts Fourth-Straight Home Contest Tuesday Evening in The Pit
11/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
GAME NOTES -- Live Stats -- Video -- Audio
ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (2-3) will play its fourth-straight home game when it hosts Maine Maritime Academy (2-1)Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. This will be the second game of the year that the Black Bears have played in Memorial Gym.
Maine enters tonight's game after going 1-1 in the 19th annual Dead River Company Classic. The Black Bears defeated Troy in game one 66-53 to give them a spot in the Championship game for the first time since 2006. Maine fought back from down 10 to tie things on an Ashleigh Roberts fastbreak layup with just seconds remaining to send the Championship game with Brown into overtime. However, Brown would outscore the Black Bears 5-3 in the extra session to take the Tournament Championship 61-59.
The Black Bears are led by sophomore guard Ashleigh Roberts who is averaging 12.0 points per game to go along with 5.0 rebounds. Senior co-captain Brittany Williams is averaging 11.2 points per game to go along with 3.2 rebounds. Williams has been a leader for Maine so far this season as she is leading the team with 33.4 minutes per game entering tonight. The Black Bears have been getting solid production out of its freshman. Courtney Anderson is averaging 7.2 points per game as she is shooting 8-for-16 from beyond the arc. Fellow freshman Rebecca Knight recently started her first collegiate game in Maine's win over Troy. The Alfred, Maine native is averaging 2.6 points per game to go along with 3.4 rebounds per game. Four of the Black Bears' five freshmen have played in all five games thus far. As a unit, Maine is averaging 57.6 points per game and have been involved in some very close ballgames as its scoring margin against its opponents is a slim -0.4. The Black Bears are shooting 40.4% from the field while pulling down 40.8 rebounds per game.
The Mariners enter tonight's contest at 2-1 on the season as they opened the season with wins over UMaine Presque-Isle (63-43) and a tight victory against UMass Dartmouth (57-55). In its most recent game, Maine Maritime fell for the first time this year with a 80-68 loss to Fitchburg State in the Championship game of the Curry College Tipoff Tournament. The Mariners, picked fourth in the North Atlantic Conference preseason poll, are led by senior forward Sam Goda who enters tonight averaging a double-double per game with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Fellow senior Maggie Smith is also averaging in double-figures in scoring with 13.0 points per game and is leading the way with 28.7 minutes per game. Junior guard Alexis Bennett is chipping in 10.7 points per game to go along with 6.3 rebounds. Maine Maritime is coming off a 17-10 season a year ago in which it made it to the NAC Final Four. As a unit, Maine Maritime is averaging 62.7 points per game and are shooting 38.7% from the field.The Mariners are coached by Craig Dagan who is 182-93 in his 11th year with the program. Dagan guided the Mariners to three-straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2004-07.
This will be the first ever meeting between the Black Bears and Maine Maritime Academy. Before Maine Maritime was founded in 1941, the Eastern State Normal School was located where the current Maine Maritime campus currently is in Castine, Maine. The Black Bears were 4-0 against Castine Normal with the two teams' first meeting coming in the 1923-24 season, a contest won 19-18 by the Black Bears. Maine played Castine Normal three times in the 1924-25 season, winning all three games. The Black Bears are currently 107-10 all-time against school's from the state of Maine. Maine last played a fellow in-state team in 1987 when it defeated UMaine Presque-Isle 108-29 on Jan. 14, 2007.
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