Orono, Maine -- Maine, which will play its fifth-consecutive game away from home, closes out its non-conference slate when it travels to take on Boston College on Friday at 2 p.m. live on ACC Network Extra/WatchESPN. Maine and Boston College are meeting for the third-straight year, splitting each of the previous two meetings.
GAME COVERAGE:
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine looks to get back on the winning track at Boston College. After winning four of its last give, Maine has dropped two in a row after most recently falling by a score of 77-62 at Tulane on Dec. 28. In the loss, Maine carried a three point edge into the half but was unable to hold on after being outscored 24-12 in the third period.
Sigi Koizar led the Black Bears after knocking down six 3-pointers on her way to a 24 points effort.
Julie Brosseau chipped in 11 points off the bench with a trio of 3-pointers as Maine finished 11-for-27 from 3-point range.
Sigi Koizar continues to control the offense for Maine. Despite having her seven game double-figure scoring streak snapped against Miami (7 points), Koizar bounced back with a career-high six 3-pointers en route to a 24 point outing at Tulane. Koizar has totaled double-digits in eight of her last nine outings and has bested 20 points in five of Maine's 14 games. Koizar has moved into third among America East scoring leaders at 14.9 points per game. The senior is 11th in the league in assists (2.4), fifth from the free throw line (81.3) and seventh in 3-point makes (1.9). Koizar continues to climb the all-time charts at Maine as she stands just 19 points behind former teammate
Liz Wood for seventh in Maine scoring history.
Tanesha Sutton has tallied double-digits in three of her last four and has continued to pad the stat sheet, checking in as Maine's leader in rebounding (5.4) and assists (2.7). Sutton has tallied 5+ assists and 5+ rebounds in a single game on three occasions and ranks third in the league at 50.0% from the floor. Freshman
Laia Sole, a three-time America East Rookie of the Week, is averaging 9.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and checks in a 44.6% from the field.
Julie Brosseau has hit a team-high 24 field goals from 3-point range and is shooting 38.7% from beyond the arc while averaging 6.3 points. Brosseau matched her career-high with 11 points at Tulane.
Maine continues to climb back to the upper echelon of defensive rankings that it is used to producing as it is allowing 60.6 points per game, third best in the America East and 107th in the nation. Maine is 7-1 when holding its opponents to 60 points or fewer. The Black Bears are shooting 30.1-percent from 3-point range and rank 48th in the nation with 90 makes. Part of the reason for that is because they lead the league and rank 29th in the country with 272 attempts from downtown.
The Black Bears have faced one of the most challenging schedules in their history, already playing three teams ranked 11th or higher. The strength of schedule Maine has played already ranks it 40th in the nation, with the next highest America East team's SOS being Binghamton (65). Maine's RPI currently sits at 77; 73 spots higher than the next America East team (UAlbany - 147).
A LOOK AT BOSTON COLLEGE:
The Eagles rode into the Holiday break on a four-game win streak after most recently defeating Dartmouth, 65-53, back on Dec. 21. Boston College will be playing the fourth of five-straight home games and enter action 4-2 at Conte Forum. The Eagles opened their season with a loss against America East member Hartford, 65-56, and went on to drop six of their first eight. Mariella Fasoula, an All-ACC freshman selection a year ago, leads the Eagles in scoring (17.4), rebounding (7.7) and is shooting a team-best 49.7-percent from the floor. However, Fasoula was injured against CCSU and missed the Dartmouth contest. Kelly Hughes is also adding double-digit scoring efforts, checking in at 13.9 points per fame with a 37.2-percent showing (35-for-94) from 3-point range. Freshman Georgia Pineau has made an immediate impact with the Eagles, averaging 6.9 points and a team-high 3.8 assists.
The Eagles rank last in the high-scoring ACC at 62.0 points per game and 13th in defense, allowing 59.1 points per game. A high point for the Eagles has been rebound defense where they rank third in the ACC at 32.8.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH BOSTON COLLEGE:
Maine and Boston College will be meeting for the ninth time, and the third in as many years. The Eagles lead the all-time series, 6-2, including a 55-48 victory in last season's contest. Maine's last win in the series came in the Black Bears' Thanksgiving Tournament Championship in 2014, a 69-64 overtime decision.
Sigi Koizar has tallied double-digits in both of her meetings with Boston College and enters averaging 17.0 points and 5.5 rebounds against the Eagles. Maine is 0-4 all-time on the road against Boston College.
-UMaine-
