Women's Hoops Hosts Brown on Friday in Opening Round of Thanksgiving Classic
11/26/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine welcomes Brown, Wright St. and Boston College to the Cross Insurance Center for the opening round of the 2014 Black Bear Thanksgiving Classic. Maine will meet Brown in round one on Friday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m. following by a match-up between Wright St. and Boston College. Maine will be looking to win its annual November tournament for the seventh time and the first since 2006.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS
The Black Bears look to make it back to the Thanksgiving Tournament Championship for the second-straight year after defeating UMass in the opening round a season ago before falling to Wisconsin-Green Bay in the Championship game. Sophomore point guard Sigi Koizar leads Maine as she ranks sixth in the league and tops among the Black Bears in scoring at 15.2 points per game. Koizar, who has scored in double-figures in each of Maine's first four games, is adding a team-high 2.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds. Preseason all-conference selection Liz Wood is chipping in 10.5 points and leads the Black Bears in rebounding at 4.2 per game while shooting 44.7-percent from the floor. Sophie Weckstrom is averaging 6.8 points per game and has been perfect from the free throw line. Juniors Mikaela Gustafsson and Lauren Bodine are adding 4.5 points. As a unit, Maine is averaging 58.8 points per game while shooting 38.7-percent from the floor, 26.1-percent from 3-point range and 66.2-percent from the free throw line. Maine averages 30.8 rebounds and 12.5 assists per game. The Black Bears rank first in the league in assist to turnover ratio (+2.0) and third with 8.8 steals.
SCOUTING BROWN
The Bears returned three starters and nine letterwinners to their team which went 10-18 a year ago and finished sixth in the Ivy League with a 4-10 mark. First year head coach Sarah Behn's squad is led by junior guard Jordin Alexander who is averaging 18.2 points while shooting 47.6-percent from the floor. Senior Sophie Bikofsky is chipping in 14.0 points while sophomore guard Rebecca Musgrove is averaging 9.8 points. Freshman Janie White leads the team with an 8.2 rebounding mark while chipping in 8.0 points. The Bears are tallying 66.8 points per game while shooting 39.1-percent from the floor, 25.9-percent from beyond the arc and 66.2-percent from the free throw line. Brown is averaging 35.2 rebounds and have kept the mishaps down, checking in with just 11.2 turnovers per game.
MAINE & BROWN ALL-TIME SERIES
This will be the 12th meeting all-time between Maine and Brown. The Black Bears own the all-time series by a slim 6-5 margin, thanks to a 60-59 victory at Brown last season. The last two meetings in the series have been decided by three total points, including a 61-59 Brown victory in the 2012 Black Bear Thanksgiving Classic. Brown won the first ever meeting in the series by a score of 60-58 in 1983. In last year's meeting, Sigi Koizar's layup with a minute remaining to tie the game before her free throw with just 2-seconds left gave Maine the lead and the win.
MAINE'S HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Black Bears are 28-26 all time in their Holiday Tournament history, dating back to 1986-87 with the first ever Maine Holiday Classic. The Black Bears won the tournament in its inaugual year, defeating Springfield College and Middle Tenn. State. Maine has won its tournament six times with the last coming in 2006 following an 80-78 victory over Clemson.
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