Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team, off to its best start since 1997-98, looks to advance its current win streak to six-straight when it heads back to the road for a showdown at No. 10 North Carolina State on Saturday at 6 p.m. live on the ACC Network Extra. The contest will be Maine's seventh game away from the Cross Insurance Center of the season and its sixth away from Bangor in its last seven games. Maine is 5-1 this season away from its home court. The Black Bears currently check in No. 12 in the latest College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
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LAST TIME OUT:
Blanca Millan posted a career-high 36 points as the Black Bears outscored Brown 14-8 in the overtime period to stretch its win streak to five-straight with a 102-96 decision on Saturday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Center.
Parise Rossignol added a career-best 25 points effort while
Tanesha Sutton chipped in her eighth career double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Dor Saar tallied her first-ever double-double, finishing with 10 points and a career-best 11 assists.
Maine's point total was the first time the Black Bears reached the century mark of 100 points against a Division I opponent since doing so on March 5, 1997 against Drexel.
The Black Bears assisted on 23 of their 35 field goals, finishing the game at 50.7-percent from the floor with 14 three point field goal makes. Maine also was highly efficient from the free throw line for the second consecutive game, ending the contest 12-of-15 from the charity stripe.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
The Black Bears are off to their best start since 1997-98, a year in which they began the season 11-2. Maine has strung together five consecutive victories after most recently taking down Brown in an overtime thrilled, 102-96. Maine's 102 points were the first time it had eclipsed the century mark against a Division-I opponent since 1997 (Drexel).
Blanca Millan paces Maine's offense as she currently leads the America East in scoring and ranks 28th nationally at 20.2 points per game. Millan, fresh off her third America East Player of the Week award of the season, ranks 22nd nationally with 71 made field goals on teh year. A high amount of her offensive production has come from beyond the arc where Millan ranks third in America East at 2.7 three-point field goals per game. She has tallied double-digit scoring efforts in eight of Maine's first nine games, five of which saw her finish with 20+. Equally as impressive as her play on the offensive end has been her defensive effort. Millan, who ranks seventh in school-history with 189 steals, checks in atop the America East, and 22nd nationally, at 3.2 steals per game.
Tanesha Sutton is adding 13.8 points and 6.6 rebounds while ranking fifth in the America East with a 45.0-percent mark from the floor. Sutton, who tallied a team-leading 31 offensive boards, notched her seventh career double-double with 21 points and 13 boards against Brown. Point guard
Dor Saar has posted five or more assitss in six games this season and tallied a career-high 11 against Brown. Saar ranks second in the America East at 5.8 assists per game while adding 9.1 points per game.
Parise Rossignol is chipping in 10.7 points per game with a 38.6-percent showing from three-point range.
Maine's efficient offense ranks second in the league and 46th nationally at 16.2 assists per game. More impressive has been Maine's ability to take care of the ball. The Black Bears rank 25th in the nation with just 107 turnovers through nine games, averaging just 11.9 per game; eighth in the nation. The Black Bears check in 23rd in the nation with 9.0 three-point makes and 81 total on the year. Maine ranks third in the conference at 67.6 points per game.
A LOOK AT NC STATE:
North Carolina State, one of just 18 unbeaten teams left in the nation, are off to a 10-0 start for the first time since 1999-2000. Rebounding has been a high-point for the Wolfpack, ranking 18th nationally at 45.3 rebounds per game. NC State features four players averaging at least 12.5 points per game. Grace Hunter leads the way at 15.4 points per game and checks in fifth in the nation with 35 three-point field goals. Kiara Leslie is adding 14.6 points and a team-best 9.2 rebounds while Elissa Cunane is adding 13.2 points off the bench. Aislinn Konig rounds out the Wolfpack's double-figure scoring at 12.5 points per game and a team-best 4.5 assists.
SERIES WITH NC STATE:
Maine and NC State will meet for the fourth time. NC State has won all three previous meetings. Each of the last three games between the two teams took place on neutral sites, including a 1998 meeting in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The first-ever meeting in 1989 took place in the Lady Friars Classic (Providence) while the 1994 contest was held as part of the Florida Classic. Maine is 1-1 this season against the ACC, falling to No. 20 Duke in Bangor before defeating North Carolina on the road.
MILLAN QUICK TO 1,000:
On a three-point field goal in the first quarter at Harvard (12/4),
Blanca Millan became the 20th Black Bear in history to reach 1,000 career points. Millan did so in her 75th career game, making her the seventh fastest in UMaine history to eclipse the mark.
MILLAN TALLIES 30, DOR WITH THE ASSIST:
Blanca Millan poured in a career-best 36 points in Maine's win over Brown. The total marked the first-time a Maine player had bested 30 points in a game since
Sigi Koizar tallied 30 on Feb. 20, 2016. In that same game,
Dor Saar notched a career-high 11 assists - the first time a Black Bear had bested 10 assist sin a game since Koizar's 10 against North Dakota State on Nov. 22, 2015.
RECORD NIGHT IN NORTH CAROLINA:
The Black Bears matched an all-time, single-game record for three-point field goals with 16 makes in their win at North Carolina.
STORMING BACK TO WIN THE CLASSIC:
In both of its games at the Navy Classic (vs. NC A&T and vs. Penn), Maine trailed both at the half and with five-minutes to go. However, Maine was able to comeback in both games, winning each and capturing the Navy Classic title.
MILLAN DOUBLE-FIGURE STREAK:
After starting the season with double-figures in each of Maine's first five games,
Blanca Millan has tallied double-digits in eight of Maine's first nine, including back-to-back 20+ point efforts against Bryant (23) and #20 Duke (25), a 21 point showing at North Carolina and 26 points at Harvard. Millan's season-best effort came in a career-high 36 point showing against Brown. Dating back to last season, Millan has posted double-digit scoring totals in 38 of her last 40. In all, Millan has finished in double-digits in 54 of her 76 career contests.
MILLAN CLIMBING THE ALL-TIME STEALS CHART:
Millan has tallied 189 steals over her time at UMaine. Her five steals against Brown moved her ahead of Melissa Heon and into seventh all-time at Maine.
SUTTON ON THE BOARDS:
During the 2017-18 campaign, Sutton led the Black Bears in rebounding and ranked fourth among America East leaders at 6.9 rebounds per game. Currently, Sutton stands just 42 career boards away from 500 in her career. Taking a look at Maine's all-time rebounding standings, Sutton is 81 boards behind Ashley Roberts for 20th all-time (552).
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