Women's Basketball Looks for Fifth-Straight Win Wednesday vs. Dartmouth
12/9/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
GAME NOTES | LIVE VIDEO | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | TWITTER | TICKETS
ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (5-3) hosts Dartmouth (5-2) on Wednesday evening in a match-up where Maine is looking to improve to 5-1 at home. A win for the Black Bears would give them their first five-game win streak since 2005. Maine last started December 2-0 in 2003 and got off to a 3-0 start in the month in 2001.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS...
Maine enters the contest searching for its fifth-straight victory as it is currently in the middle of three-game homestand. The Black Bears have been strong at home, going 4-1 at Cross Insurance Center, with the one loss being a one-point stumble against Sacred Heart. The Black Bears are coming off a 65-46 victory over Harvard in which Liz Wood led the way with a career-high 25 points and nine rebounds. Defensively, the Black Bears forced 20 turnovers in the win and held Harvard to just 15 total first half points. The win was Maine's first over Harvard since 1989.
Wood, who recently was named the America East Player of the Week for the second-straight week, leads the Black Bears in scoring at 16.4 points per game. Wood, who ranks fifth in the league in scoring, has scored 20+ points in three of her last four games and also leads the Black Bears in rebounding (6.0), assists (3.4), steals (2.5) and is tied for the team-lead in field goal percentage (54.7%). Sophomore guard Sigi Koizar is also averaging double-figures at 15.5 points per game while adding 3.6 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 2.1 steals and a 54.7% mark from the field. Sophie Weckstrom is adding 6.7 points and a 30.6% mark from 3-point range.
The Black Bears have outscored their competition by a +33 margin and are averaging 62.4 points per game on the season while limiting the opposition to just 59.0. Defensively, the Black Bears rank third in the league in scoring defense (59.0), fourth in field goal percentage defense (40.3%), third in rebounding defense (36.2), third in steals (9.3) and first in turnover margin (+2.62). Maine's offense has started clicking as it now leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage (32.6%) and are adding a 42.3% mark from the floor and rank second in assists (14.4).
SCOUTING DARTMOUTH...
The Big Green enter the contest at 5-2 but are just 1-2 in their last three games. Dartmouth will be playing its third-straight game against an America East school as it defeated Hartford 49-43 but most recently lost 68-63 at Vermont.
Dartmouth is led by sophomore guard Fanni Szabo who is averaging 22.1 points per game. Szabo has lead the Big Green in scoring in six of their first seven games and is adding 5.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists while also leading the squad in shooting (48.8-percent) and 3-point percentage (33.3%). Junior Lakin Roland is adding a double-double with 14.6 points and a team-high 10.6 rebounds. Milica Toskovic leads the team with a 2.3 assists mark while chipping in 6.7 points and 7.6 rebounds.
Overall, Dartmouth averages 62.3 point per game while shooting 37.9-percent from the floor, 27.1-percent from 3-point range and 71.7-percent from the free throw line. The Big Green average 41.0 rebounds, 9.1 assists and 17.3 turnovers.
A GLIMPSE INTO THE SERIES...
Wednesday's meeting will be the 14th all-time between Maine and Dartmouth with the Black Bears holding the series advantage 9-4. Maine has won the past two meetings, including the most recent meeting in 2007 by a score of 67-53. The Black Bears are 4-1 all-time at home against Dartmouth. Maine won the first-ever meeting between the two schools by a score of 67-47 on Jan. 3, 1985.
800 AND COUNTING...
Just 68 games into her career as a Black Bear, Liz Wood topped the 800 point plateau. Wood's layup 1:21 into the first half on Dec. 7 against Harvard pushed the junior forward over 800 points. Wood is trying to be just the 8th Black Bear all-time to reach 1,000 points in three years. The last to do so was Heather Ernest who eclipsed the mark in the 2002-03 season.
BACK-TO-BACK ACCOLADES...
Liz Wood was awarded the America East Player of the Week for the second-straight week on Dec. 8. Wood averaged 24.0 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals while shooting 67.9-percent (19-for-28) from the floor and posting a 60.0-percent mark from 3-point range (6-for-10). Wood was a key in Maine's thrilling comeback victory at Central Connecticut as she tallied 23 points while adding eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. The junior forward matched a career-high with 25 points, including the 800th of her career, in the Black Bears' victory over Harvard. Wood went 9-for-13 in the win over the Ivy League's Crimson while adding a season-high nine rebounds, four steals and three assists.
THE STREAK...
Over the four game win streak, Wood is averaging 22.3 points and shooting 61.4% from the floor and 52.0% from 3-point range while Koizar is adding 15.8 points and a 59.0% mark from the floor. As a team, Maine has boosted its scoring average from 58.8 ppg to 62.4 over the last four. In its last four games, the Black Bears are averaging 66.0 points per game.
FORCING MISTAKES...
The Black Bears pride themselves on their defensive efforts as of late. Maine leads the league with a +2.6 turnover margin as they've forced opponents to turn the ball over 168 times in the first seven games; a 21.0 average per game. Maine has turned those 168 turnovers into 148 points, averaging 18.5 points off turnovers per game.
-U-M-
