ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team (15-15, 8-7 America East) looks to end the season on a winning note as it hosts Binghamton (13-15, 8-7 AE) on Senior and Alumnae Day at the Cross Insurance Center on Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 PM. The Black Bears are 8-1 in their last nine meetings with the Bearcats. Sunday's game will decide fourth place in the final America East standings. Maine is locked into the No. 4/5 game in the quarterfinals of the America East championship and will play either Binghamton or Hartford on Saturday, March 4 at 2:30 PM.

PREVIEW/FULL GAME NOTES

A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine is coming off a pair of losses against the two top teams in the America East after dropping contests to New Hampshire and at Albany.  The loss against New Hampshire snapped Maine's 21-game home conference win streak. Most recently, at Albany, the Black Bears trailed by as many as 13 before fighting back and cutting the lead to a pair late in the fourth. However, it would be as close as Maine could get, falling 64-60 to the five-time defending America East champions. Sigi Koizar led the way at Albany, matching a season-high with 25 points, hitting five 3-pointers along the way, and recording the 1,600 point of her career. Julie Brosseau, who hit four 3-pointers of her own, joined Koizar in double-figures (14).

Koizar has climbed her way up to fifth among the league leaders in scoring, averaging 13.6 points per game. The senior guard has tallied double-digits in seven of her last nine outings, including 20+ in two of her last three. Over her last four games, Koizar is averaging 20.3 points and recently became just the seventh in Maine women's basketball history to tally 1,600 points in her career. Koizar's 359 assists rank her ninth on Maine's all-time list, just four behind Liz Wood for eighth. Koizar, who is 26th on the all-time America East scoring list, ranks second in the league in free throw shooting (83.1%) and has hit 13-straight from the charity stripe. Laia Sole, averaging 10.1 points on the year, ranks 15th among league leaders in conference only scoring as she is checking in with 11.8 points against America East competition. Sole's field goal percentage (50.7) is fourth best in league action, and she checks in at 47.1% overall. The freshman has tallied double-figures in nine of Maine's 15 league contests. Blanca Millan, averaing 8.3 points, has also picked up her game in league play where she is averaging 9.7 points while shooting 30.9% from 3-point range with 30 makes from downtown against league opponents. Julie Brosseau is Maine's deep threat, avergaing 1.9 makes from 3-point range per game with a 34.1% mark from long range. A total of 57 of Brosseau's 74 field goals have been 3-pointers. Tanesha Sutton, averaging 7.3 points, leads Maine in rebounding (4.9) and assists 2.6.

Six of Maine's seven conference losses have come by eight points or less as the Black Bears scoring margin in league play is +5.8, good for third overall. Maine is second in the league in scoring defense, holding conference foes to just 56.9 points per game. Overall, Maine is 54th in the nation in scoring defense (58.9 ppg). Maine has hit seven or more 3-pointers in 14 games this season and 61st nationally in 3-point makes (190) and 37th in 3-point attempts (620).  

SCOUTING BINGHAMTON:
The Bearcats snapped a three-game losing streak when they defeated Hartford, 60-59, on Thursday night, to help them improve to 13-15 overall and slide into fifth place in the America East standings at 8-7. The Bearcats rallied, ending the game with Hartford on a 10-0 run, to cap a comeback victory. Imani Watkins, who ranks second in the league in scoring, led the way with 28 points. Watkins, who ranks in the top 10 in points, rebounds and assists in the America East, enters play averaging 19.4 points and ranks eighth in rebounding (5.5) and 10th in assists (3.1). Alyssa James checks in at 11.3 points and is a force underneath for the Bearcats. James is fourth in the league at 6.9 rebounds and leads the America East in blocks (2.4).Jasmine Sina rounds out the Binghamton double-figure scorers, averaging 10.0 per game. Sina ranks second in the league with 2.5 makes from 3-point range per game.

Binghamton is very limited in its mistakes as it is tops in America East with a league-low 14.0 turnovers per game. Defensively, the Bearcats lead the league in blocks (5.3) and rank third in steals (9.1).

A GLIMPSE INTO THE SERIES:
Maine and Binghamton are meeting for the 22nd time, with the Black Bears holding an 18-13 advantage in the all-time series. Maine has won eight of the last nine meetings but had its eight-game win streak in the series snapped with a 58-52 loss at Binghamton on Jan. 28. In that game, Koizar (14) and Millan (12) each tallied double-digits to lead the way. Maine is 11-4 all-time at home against Binghamton and have won the past three meetings at the Cross Insurance Center; all by double-digits. Maine defeated Binghamton by 32, 22 and 13 in each of the last three games played in Bangor, averaging a +22.3 scoring margin. Koizar is averaging 10.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in eight games against Binghamton and has tallied double-figure scoring efforts five of the eight.

-UMaine-