Women's Basketball Returns Home, Hosts James Madison in The Pit
12/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes -- Live Stats -- Video -- Audio
ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (3-5) returns home from the Navy Classic to host James Madison (5-1) on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. in Memorial Gym for the Black Bears' fifth home game of the season, and the third time playing inside 'The Pit'.
The Black Bears are 1-1 so far this season in Memorial Gym, dropping its first contest to Bryant 65-53 before defeating Maine Maritime Academy 73-37. Maine is averaging 63.0 points per game inside 'The Pit' thus far while shooting 43.1% from the field and 70.7% from the free throw line. Maine is bringing down 35.0 rebounds per game at Memorial Gym while handing out 14.0 assists. Courtney Anderson leads all Black Bears in scoring at 'The Pit' with 9.0 points per game while Shareka Maner is pulling down a team-high 5.0 rebounds per game inside 'The Pit'.
Overall, the Black Bears enter the contest against James Madison at 3-5 on the season as they are looking for their first win after dropping their last two at the Navy Classic against George Washington and Navy. Maine, averaging 57.9 points per game, are led by sophomore guard Ashleigh Roberts' (Wilmington, Del.) 9.1 points per game to go along with 4.3 rebounds. Fellow guard Brittany Williams (Rochester, N.Y.) is chipping in with 8.6 points per game as she has started all eight games for Maine and currently leads the Black Bears with 30.5 minutes per game. Freshman Courtney Anderson (Greene, Maine) leads the Maine attack from beyond the arc as she is shooting 50.0% from three-point land while averaging 7.3 points per game and leading the team with 2.5 assists per contest. Senior Samantha Baranowski (Stanhope, N.J.) has picked up her play as of recent as she is averaging 10.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in her last three games including scoring 22 points with 13 rebounds at the Navy Classic to earn All-Tournament honors. Fellow senior Samantha Wheeler (Derry, N.H.) has also picked up her game as of recent as she is coming off a 14 point, nine rebound performance at Navy.
The Dukes started the 2011-12 campaign on a five game winning streak before falling in its first conference matchup 65-58 at Towson this past Sunday. James Madison, who has been receiving votes in the Coaches Poll this season, were ranked in the top 25 nationally last season. The Dukes, coming off their seconds straight Colonial Athletic Association Championship, were selected to finish third in this year's CAA conference. The Dukes look to replace two starters including last year's CAA Player of the Year in guard Dawn Evans. James Madison is led by junior guard Tarik Hislop who leads the team in scoring at 16.5 points per game, good for seventh best in the CAA. Hislop is joined by fellow junior Jasmine Gill (13.5 ppg) and sophomore Kirby Burkholder (11.7 ppg) as double-figure scorers on the Dukes. Burkholder leads the team in rebounding at 8.3 boards per game as the Dukes are the leading rebounding team in the CAA with 45.2 rebounds per game on average. James Madison features a very defensively sound team as it is giving up just 59.8 points per game as it ranks second amongst CAA leaders in field goal percentage defense (36.4%) and three-point percentage defense (30.3%).
The Black Bears currently own the all-time series with the Dukes as Maine has won two out of the three times the two teams have matched up. Maine and James Madison met three times over a six year span from 1991-1997. The first ever meeting of these two squads also occured inside Memorial Gymnasium on Dec. 29, 1991 a game won by Maine 71-54. Maine then traveled to James Madison on Nov. 24, 1996, a game won by the Dukes 69-63. The Black Bears won the last meeting between the two squads, an 85-62 win on Nov. 28, 1997 in the first round of the Dead River Company Classic. Current Black Bear assistant coach Amy Vachon totaled seven points, eight assists and four rebounds in Maine's last meeting with the Dukes.
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