ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team looks to pick up its third league victory when it hosts Hartford in Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. matinee. The Black Bears have won two-straight in the series and will be looking to move to 24-1 in its last 25 home games.

A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
After picking up a pair of league wins over UMBC and UMass Lowell, the Black Bears suffered a setback with a 55-41 loss at Stony Brook. Maine, which led 31-28 at the half, was led by Naira Caceres who tallied a career-high 11 points and eight rebounds.

Sigi Koizar, who returned to action at Stony Brook with eight points in 28 minutes after missing three games due to injury, was averaging 14.0 points per game before suffering an injury at Boston College. Koizar is fifth in the league in scoring and ranks fifth from the free throw line (80.4%). Since her injury, Maine has seen several newcomers step up including Julie Brosseau. Brosseau notched double-digit scoring efforts in six-straight games prior to Stony Brook. In that span, Brosseau knocked down 19 shots from beyond the arc and is tied for ninth best in the league from long-range at 37.5%. Laia Sole is second on the Black Bears at 9.4 points and recorded her second, 20+ scoring performance of the year when she dropped 20 at UMass Lowell. Sole has been highly efficient from the floor, shooting 44.6%. Blanca Millan, who was awarded the America East Rookie of the Week on Jan. 9, is adding 7.2 points. Millan has been strong on both ends of the court as defensively she ranks eighth in the league at 1.7 steals per game. Tanesha Sutton has been Maine's Swiss Army Knife, doing a little bit of everything for the Black Bears. Sutton, averaging 7.0 points per game, leads Maine in rebounding (5.1) and assists (2.5) and leads the team with a 47.4% mark from the floor. Sutton, who ranks 11th in the league in assists, has been strong on the offensive boards, ranking tied for seventh in America East.

Maine's defensive effort continues to be the strong suit as it climbs back to its top-5 ranking in all of NCAA from a year ago. Maine ranks 50th in the nation, allowing 58.2 points per game. The Black Bears, who trail New Hampshire for the America East lead in the category, have limited a total of seven opponents under 50 points this season. As a team, Maine is third in the league from the floor (40.0%) and sixth from beyond the arc (29.8%). Maine, which has attempted the 36th most 3-point attempts in the country (393) - rank second in the league with 117 makes from downtown.

SCOUTING HARTFORD:
The Hawks finished non-conference play 9-4 after picking up key victories over Boston College (65-56) and UMass (75-56) before starting America East play 3-0. Senior guard Deanna Mayza leads a trio of Hawks who enter action averaging double-digits. Mayza, who leads the league at 42.2% from 3-point range, is the league's third leading scorer at 15.8 points per game. As much as Mayza scores it she also shares it as she is the league-leader in assists at 5.3 per game. Hartford also boasts one of the top freshmen in the league in Sierra DaCosta who is averaging 12.1 points per game. Lindsey Abed is adding 11.4 points and a team-high 4.9 rebounds with an 84.8% mark from the free throw line.

The Hawks shoot the 3-pointer with the best of the nation, ranking 19th in the NCAA at 37.8% from beyond the arc while ranking second in the league with 7.3 makes from beyond the arc per game. Hartford is the top scoring offense in America East at 699 points per game while it averages a league-high 15.3 assists per game. The Hawks rank sixth in the nation with a +8.50 turnover margin, forcing a league best, and 14th ranked nationally, 22.13 turnovers per game.
 
A GLIMPSE INTO THE SERIES:
Maine and Hartford will meet for the 71st time. The Black Bears hold the all-time advantage in the series, 42-28, and have won each of the past two meetings, and four of the last five, after sweeping the series last season. Maine is 23-11 at home against the Hawks and have won two-straight on its home court.The Black Bears won the first ever meeting back in 1986 by a score of 71-53. In the last five meetings, Maine has held Hartford to an average of 50.8 points, holding the Hawks to 45 points or less three times.

-UMaine-