Bangor, Maine - Basketball season is back! The University of Maine women's basketball team will open its season on Friday, Nov. 11 when it hosts Purdue in game one of the Tipoff Tournament at 5 p.m. Following Maine and Purdue, Villanova will take on No. 10 Mississippi St. As part of a special Veterans Day promotion, brought to you by Dead River Company, the Black Bears will host Military Appreciation day. All Military Personnel, Veterans and their families will receive free tickets to Friday's game by calling 207.581.BEAR!
COMPLETE GAME NOTES HERE
GAME COVERAGE:
- There's no better way to watch your Black Bears than LIVE at the Cross Insurance Center! Get your tickets now at TicketMaster.com or by visiting the Cross Insurance Center box office!
- If you are unable to make it to the game we've got you covered! You can catch your Black Bears all season long on ESPN3 by visiting this link!
- Don Shields is back on the call for Black Bears Sports Network! Tune into Don at 1230 WGUY-AM or listen worldwide at GoBlackBears.com!
- As always, you can follow along to live stat updates here and catch your up-to-date game info, behind the scene photos and highlights by following @BlackBearsWBB on Twitter!
TOURNAMENT PREVIEW:
The University of Maine women's basketball team welcomes Purdue, Mississippi St. and Villanova to the Cross Insurance Center for the start of the 2016-17 season. Maine begins its 53rd season of basketball looking for its 31st season opening win (30-22) and will try to start 1-0 for the second-straight year. Maine, which went 12-0 at home a year ago, looks for its 20th-straight win at Cross Insurance Center.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
The Black Bears return to action after finishing 2015-16 at 26-9 and earning their second-straight trip to the WNIT and a second consecutive America East regular season title. Maine narrowly missed out on its eighth NCAA tournament appearance after dropping a one-point decision at Albany in the America East Championship. The Black Bears, selected third in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll, welcome back leading scorer
Sigi Koizar (17.7 ppg), a two-time America East All-Conference first team selection and member of the 2016-17 America East preseason all-conference team. Last year, Koizar ranked in the top-10 of nine different America East categories, leading the league in 3-point shooting (43.4) and total 3-point field goals made with a UMaine single-season record of 85.
Maine returns four letterwinners in all and welcomes the addition of transfer
Tanesha Sutton (Jr., 5-10, G) who sat out last season due to NCAA transfer rules. The Black Bears, who lost eight seniors from 2015-16 to graduation, welcome in eight freshmen, making them one of the youngest teams in the country, but boast a wealth of high-level experience, including National Team exposure.
SCOUTING PURDUE:
Purdue returns five of its top-six scorers from a year ago, including a pair of starters in Ashley Morrissette and Bridget Perry. Morrissette averaged 13.0 ppg in 2015-16 and is an outside threat, entering action ranked 16th all-time with 112 3-pointers. Perry also averaged double-figures last season (10.5 ppg) and returns as the team's leading rebounder (5.8). The Boilermakers finished their season at 20-12, earning an NCAA tournament bid where it lost to Oklahoma, 61-45. Head coach Sharon Versyp spent 2000-05 at the helm of the Black Bears, capturing three America Easttitles and a pair of AE coach of the year honors. Purdue leads the all-time series with Maine, 1-0, after defeating the Black Bears 56-33 in a contest last season on Dec. 21.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA:
Villanova returns nine lettermen and three starters from its 20-12 team which advanced to the second round of the WNIT. Villanova, which has led the country the last two seasons in fewest turnovers per game (7.9), will be led by a pair of preseason first team All-Big East selections in Alex Louin (11.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.5 apg) and Adrianna Hahn (10.6 ppg, 41.4% 3-pt FG). The Wildcats will also look for immediate production out of Tennessee transfer Jannah Tucker. Maine is 1-2 all-time against Villanova, losing the most recent meeting by a score of 71-60 in the opening round of the 2015 WNIT.
Sigi Koizar led all scorers with 22 points in the loss at Villanova; with all 22 buckets coming in the second half. Maine's lone win in the series came in the championship game of the 1995 Dead River Company Classic in Orono, 70-61. Villanova won the first ever meeting, a 65-60 victory in 1990's Wisconsin Green Bay Tournament.
SCOUTING MISSISSIPPI ST:
The Bulldogs return all five starters from a team that compiled a school-record 28 wins a year after posting a 27-win season. MSU, which returns 90% of its scoring from its NCAA Sweet Sixteen team, have been in the AP poll for 37-straight weeks and begin the season at No. 10. Victoria Vivians returns as the Bulldogs' top scorer after averaging 17.1 ppg, earning her First Team All-SEC and WBCA All-America Honorable Mention status. Morgan William also returns a year after averaging 9.7 points and 4.9 assists. Senior Chinwe Okorie posted 6.8 points and led MSU with 6.0 rebounds. Maine and MSU have met just once, an 80-55 Bulldog win in Starkville back in 2005.
HEAD COACH RICHARD BARRON:
Richard Barron enters his sixth year with the Black Bears, and his 17th overall season as a head coach. Following the 2015-16 season, in which Barron guided the Black Bears back to their second-straight WNIT berth after capturing another America East regular season title, Barron agreed to a four-year extension with the University of Maine. It was upward and onward in 2015-16 under Barron's leadership as the Black Bears continued the climb to greatness. The team that had regained respect throughout the Northeast was now opening eyes on a national level as Maine earned a No. 14 ranking in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25. Barron's defensive philosophy proved to be one of the top in the country as Maine finished the season ranked as the No. 5 rated team in terms of scoring defense, limiting opponents to just 51.1 points per game. The Black Bears built off their defensive success as Barron guided Maine to its first back-to-back 20+ win season since 2003-04, 2004-05. The year would see Maine reach the America East Championship game and once again return to the WNIT after a 26 win campaign, one short of the school record. The Black Bears went undefeated on their home court, moving their home win streak to 19-0. The home crowds continued to grow as Maine was top in the conference and second in New England, only to UConn, in attendance (2,008).
PRESEASON TUNE-UP:
The Black Bears defeated Stonehill, 74-54, in preseason exhibition action on Oct. 30. Several of Maine's new faces saw action in the game including freshman
Laia Sole who dropped a team-high 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting. Fellow freshman
Fanny Wadling added 11 points. Maine looked good on the boards, holding a 43-28 advantage while forcing 20 Skyhawks turnover. Maine also worked the ball inside, outscoring Stonehill 44-26 in the paint and boasted a 16-4 advantage on second chance points.
WAIT, WHERE'D EVERYONE GO:
It will be a new look for the Black Bears this season after graduating eight seniors and losing two others student-athletes from its 2015-16 roster. In all, Maine lost 69.1% (1463/2117 pts) of its scoring offense. However, Maine returns top scorer and preseason all-conference selection
Sigi Koizar (17.7 pts/619 total pts) and welcomes in a wealth of athletic talent with high-level experience and national team competition under their belts.
- #2 Sierra Tapley (5-8, G): Averaged 16.3 ppg, 4.0 apg at MDI - Big East Player of the Year, First-Team All-Conference
- #3 Naira Caceres (6-0, G): Blue Star Europe five-star recruit - Spanish Championship MVP - Three-time Spain National Team member
- #5 Tihana Stojsavljevic (6-2, F): Member of Croatian U18 Division A FIBA European team
- #10 Julie Brosseau (5-8, G): Rated as 4th best player in Canada in 2016 class - Averaged 17.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg in 2016 - First-team CCAA All-Star
- #13 Laia Sole (6-2, F): Blue Star Europe four-star recruit - Bronze medalist with FIBA 3x3 team at World Championships - National team member since U13
- #22 Blanca Millan (5-11, G): Blue Star Europe five-star recruit - averaged 27.0 ppg, 13.0 rpg for Peleteiro - two-time medalist with Spain's U15 & U16 National teams
- #31 Anita Kelava (6-3, F): Blue Star Europe four-star recruit - Four-time Croatian National Team member
- #51 Fanny Wadling (6-1, F): Led team in scoring and steals at U18 European Championships - Led BG Lulea to Swedish Championship ('14, '15)
SEEING 20-20:
Maine has put together back-to-back 20+ win seasons, including a 26 win seasons a year ago which came up just one win short of matching the all-time single-season wins record (1996-96). Maine will be looking for its third-straight 20+ win season, which it also put together from 2002-05, also the last time Maine was over .500 in three consecutive awards.
DEEP KNOWLEDGE:
Over the past three seasons, Maine has knocked down an astounding 680 total 3-pointers, averaging 227 makes from beyond the arc. Maine now owns three of the top five single season marks (245 (1), 223 (T-2), 212 (T-4)) in America East history.
ATTENDANCE:
A year ago, Maine averaged 2,008 fans at home; second best in New England (UConn) and tops in the America East. The single season total was Maine's highest since 2007-08 (2,040).
ALL-TIME 3-POINTERS:
Sigi continues to climb Maine's list of all-time 3-point shooters. Entering play, Koizar ranks eighth in 3-point makes in school history.
1. Cindy Blodgett (217)
2. Ashley Underwood (210)
3. Missy Traversi (174)
4.
Lauren Bodine (167)
5. Sophie Weckstrom (150)
6.
Liz Wood (145)
7. Tanna Ross (134)
8.
Sigi Koizar (131)
9. Melissa Heon (119)
HOME COOKING:
For the Black Bears, there's nothing better than playing in front of the home fans at the Cross Insurance Center. It's clear that Maine has a true home-court advantage as it went 12-0 at home last season and enter this season with an 18-game home winning streak. To find Maine's last loss at the Cross Insurance Center one would have to go all the way back to Jan. 3, 2015, a 49-43 loss to UAlbany. Maine is 26-2 over the past two seasons at home. The Black Bears were tops in the America East and second in New England (UConn) home attendance last season (2,008).
SIGI CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME SCORING LIST:
On Feb. 3, 2016,
Sigi Koizar became the 20th Black Bear to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Koizar is also just the eighth ever to achieve the feat in just three seasons. With 15 points in semifinal action against Stony Brook, Koizar moved past Ashley Underwood and into 11th all-time in scoring at Maine. Koizar is now 13 points out of 10th all time (Ashleigh Roberts - 1,248). Next in line for Koizar would be ninth place (Stephanie Guidi - 1,295) and eight place (Lauree Gott - 1,387).
PRESEASON POLL:
After capturing back-to-back America East regular season titles, Maine has been selected third in the 2016-17 America East Preseason Coaches Poll. The Black Bears earned a pair of first place tallies and were just two votes behind UMBC for second and just two ahead of Binghamton.
DEFENSIVE EFFORT:
Last year, the Black Bears finished the season ranked fifth in the nation and first in the America East, allowing just 51.1 points per game. Maine held 31 of its 35 opponents under 60 points and 17 under 50, including LSU and Clemson. In league play, Maine held 15 of 16 opponents under 60 points and seven under 50. Counting tournament action, conference foes averaged just 47.9 ppg against the Black Bears. Maine forced 15.7 turnovers, holding a +3.46 margin in the stat.
DIALING LONG DISTANCE:
Maine was tops in the America East in three-point field goals made (223), three-point field goals per game (6.4) and first in three-point field goal percentage (32.9). On 15 separate occasions, the Black Bears hit seven or more three-point field goals in a game. Maine hit a season-high 13 three-pointers against UAlbany (2/14). Maine's 223 makes finished just 22 short of tying the all-time record (245) set in 2013-14.
SIGI FOR THREE:
Sigi Koizar knocked down 85 shots from 3-point range in 2015-16, a new single-season Maine record. With two makes at Stony Brook (2/20), Koizar set a new Maine record for three-point makes in a season, besting Kristen McCormick's previous record (70), set in 1998-99. Against Stony Brook on March 6, Koizar matched Cindy Blodgett's record for 3-point attempts of 187 (1996-97) and finished the year with 196 attempts. Koizar's total was good for fifth best on the America East single season 3-point record list.
-UMaine-
