Women's Basketball Opens Regular Season at Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational
11/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Game Notes - Live Stats - Audio - Video
ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (8-23, 4-12 America East in 2011-12) open up the 2012-13 season as it takes part in the Sheraton Raleigh Wolfpack Invitational. The Black Bears will begin the regular season with a contest against Auburn of the SEC on Friday, Nov. 9 at 2:30 PM. Maine will then play either Wofford or NC State the following day.
The Black Bears return four letterwinners to their 2012-13 squad as junior forward Ashleigh Roberts (7.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG) is Maine's top returning scorer. Roberts is joined by senior forward Corinne Wellington (4.4, 3.7) and sophomores Courtney Anderson (4.7, 3.2) and Danielle Walczak (5.8, 4.7).
Last season the Black Bears finished at 8-23 overall and 4-12 in league play, dou- bling both their overall and conference victories from the season before. Maine also won its first postseason contest since 2006 as it defeated Stony Brook by a score of 49-43 in the opening round of the America East tournament.
Maine has a brand new look this season as it welcomes in nine new freshmen to this season's squad, including six newcomers from overseas. The Black Bears have a bit of an international feel this season as they welcome in freshmen from Serbia, Israel, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom and Germany.
Auburn is coming off a disappointing 2011-2012 season where the Tigers finished under .500 with a 13-17 overall record, good enough for 9th place in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) standings. The Tigers fell in Florida 70-60 in the first round of the SEC tournament. Auburn does return seven letter-winners including three starters from last year's squad. Junior Tyrese Tanner was the team's leading scorer a year ago averaging 10.9 points per game, also returning are other top scorers sophomore Hasina Muhammad (9.5 ppg) and senior Blanche Alverson (9.1 ppg). The Tigers add five newcomers to their roster this year including four freshman and Julie King, a senior rookie that starred on the Auburn women's soccer team for past four years. The tigers will be guided by first year Auburn head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy. Williams-Fournoy comes to Auburn after coaching at Georgetown for the past eight seasons compiling a career 143- 104 record while leading the Hoyas to three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2010-2012, including a sweet-sixteen appearance in 2011. The Tigers were selected 10th in the preseason SEC poll.
The Wolfpack are coming off a solid 2011-2012 campaign in which they posted at 19-16 record and reached the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament semifinals before falling to Georgia Tech 87-61. En route to the ACC semifinals, the Pack upset top seeded Duke and became the first 9th seeded team ever to beat the 1st seed in the ACC tournament. They also earned a birth to the WNIT, losing to Appalachian State in the second round 66-62. Under 4th year head coach Kellie Harper, NC State returns three starters from last year, including their lone senior and scoring leader from a year ago Marissa Kastanek who averaged 12.9 points per game and shot 37% from beyond the arc. They also return their assists leader in Myisha Goodwin-Coleman (3.8 assists per game). Also returning is junior Kody Burke who averaged a solid 10.5 points and 1.5 blocks per game last season. This year NC State is looking to get help from USC transfer Len'Nique Brown who sat out the entire 2011-2012 season due to NCAA transfer rules. The Pack is a combined 53-47 (.530) since 2009 under Coach Harper, boasting 5 wins over ranked opponents. They made their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2010. This year the Wolfpack were picked to finish 8th in the ACC according to the preseason poll. The Wolfpack tipped off the season with an exhibition game versus North Greenville at Reynolds Coliseum on November 4th beating them 111-39 and holding the opponents starting lineup to just nine points. Eight different Wolfpack players scored in double figures lead by Burke with 22 points and double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) from junior Markeisha Gatling.
Wofford returns four starters from its 2011-12 squad which finshed at 13-18 overall and 5-15 in the Southern (SoCon) Conference. The Terriers lost just one letterwinner and return eight overall letterwinners while welcoming in five newcomers. Edgar I. Farmer Jr. is in his tenth year with the Terriers and carries a 68-167 record into this season. Wofford returns its top two scorers in seniors Morgan Wrightson and Daniella Motley. Wrightson averaged 12.6 points per game a year ago while pulling down 4.5 rebounds. Motley averaged 10.3 points and led the Terriers in rebounding at 7.9 boards per game. Fellow senior Rachel Brittenham gets the offense rolling as she led the team with 161 assists a year ago.
This will be the first ever meeting between Maine and Auburn. The Black Bears will also be facing Wofford for the first time in history if the two should meet on day two. If Maine faces NC State it will be the fourth overall meeting between the two teams who last met on March 13, 1998, a 89-64 win by the Wolfpack in the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh, N.C. The two teams have met two other times with the first meeting coming on Dec. 2, 1989, a game won 77-66 by NC State. Maine is currently 0-3 against the Wolfpack with its last win against an ACC team coming against Miami on Dec. 29, 2007 when the Black Bears defeated the Hurricanes 54-53. Should Maine defeat Auburn, it would be the first win over a team from the SEC since the Black Bears knocked off Alabama 75-73 on Jan. 5, 1995.
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