ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (10-10, 3-2) will travel to take on the America East's top seed New Hampshire (14-3, 4-0) on Thursday evening live on ESPN3. Maine has won the previous three meetings including a 58-47 victory in last season's America East quarterfinal. It will be a battle of top defenses as UNH (55.0 ppg) and Maine (58.4 ppg) rank first and third among America East leaders in points allowed.
GAME COVERAGE:
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine will be looking to hand its second-straight opponent a first conference loss after defeating Hartford by a score of 73-62. The Black Bears, who had their best shooting performance of the year (50.9%), were led by
Blanca Millan's career-high 23 point showing. Maine assisted on a season-high 22 of its 28 buckets and dominated action on the boards (45-24).
Sigi Koizar continues to lead the way for the Black Bears, ranking sixth in the league at 13.2 points per game. After a six-point outing against Hartford, Koizar now stands just three points behind former teammate
Liz Wood for seventh on Maine's all-time scoring list (1,462). This season, Koizar has scored in double-figures in 10 games while besting 20 on five occasions.
Laia Sole, averaging 9.5 points overall, ranks fifth in the league at 45.5% from the floor. Sole, a three-time America East Rookie of the Week, has made a quick adjustment to league play where she is averaging a team-high 12.6 points while hitting at 52.0% from the field. Fellow freshman,
Blanca Millan, recently dropped a career-high 23 points on Hartford and is averaging 11.0 points and 4.8 rebounds in league play while shooting 55.0%. Overall, Millan is averaging 8.0 points and continues to prove she's one of the best defenders in the league, shutting down opponent's top scorers and ranking eighth in the league at 1.8 steals per game.
Julie Brosseau ranks sixth in the league with 2.1 makes from beyond the arc per game and sits eighth at 37.6% from downtown.
Tanesha Sutton does it all for the Black Bears, averaging 7.3 points and team-highs in rebounding (5.3) and assists (2.7). Sutton has done a fair amount of her damage on the offensive boards where she ranks seventh in the league at 2.1 per game.
As a unit, Maine continues to shine on the defensive end where it ranks third in the league, and 49th nationally, allowing 58.4 points per game. In conference play, Maine has been even more impressive, allowing just 51.2 points per game and featuring a +9.4 scoring margin. On the offensive end, Maine leads the league at 40.5% and sits at the top with 266 total assists. The Black Bears are second in the league, and 70th nationally, with 124 makes from 3-point range, but have also taken the 32nd most in the country (412).
SCOUTING NEW HAMPSHIRE:
New Hampshire enters play red hot and winners of its last eight after most recently handing Vermont a 57-49 road victory. The Wildcats have begun league play 4-0 for the first time since 2013-14 while their eight-game winning streak matches their longest since 1982-83. Defense has been the strong suit for UNH as it ranks 15th in the country, allowing just 55.0 points per game. The Wildcats have also been dominant on the boards, averaging 39.0 per game while ranking 60th in the nation and tops in America East with a +5.5 rebound margin.
Individually, Carlie Pogue leads the way with team-highs in points (13.9) and rebounds (7.0). Reigning America East Player of the Week Brittni Lai is adding 13.0 points with a 36.9% showing from beyond the arc. Kat Fogarty rounds out a trio of Wildcats averaging double-digits in scoring as she checks in at 12.2 points per game with 6.1 rebounds. Senior Kristen Anderson ranks second in the country in assist-to-turnover margin (3.61).
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A GLIMPSE INTO THE SERIES:
Maine and New Hampshire will meet for the 85th time. The Wildcats are Maine's second-longest rival (Vermont-89). The Black Bears own the all-time series, 51-33, and have won three-straight including a 58-47 victory in last season's AE quarterfinal.
Sigi Koizar has scored 20+ in each of her last three outings against New Hampshire and enters averaging 15.0 points in seven meetings. Dating back to 1985, Maine is 18-14 all-time on the road against UNH. Maine's first-ever contest was played against New Hampshire, a 15-13 Wildcat victory in 1920.
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