Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball (15-8, 8-2) team looks to extend its win streak to seven straight when it hosts Hartford (14-9, 6-4) on Monday evening at the Cross Insurance Center at 7 p.m. The Black Bears have won five in a row against the Hawks, including a 59-44 victory earlier this season in Hartford.
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A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
The Black Bears ran their season-long win streak out to six game after avenging an early season loss to Binghamton with a convincing 61-38 road victory against the Bearcats on Saturday. The win lifted Maine to 8-2 in league play and into a tie atop the America East standings with UAlbany.
Blanca Millan poured in a game-high 20 points, marking her 22nd consecutive game in double-digits and her ninth time besting 20 points.
Tanesha Sutton returned from injury after missing Maine's game at UMass Lowell to add 15 points and nine boards. The Black Bears dominated play down low, outscoring Binghamton 28-12 in the paint, while holding the Bearcats to a season-low 38 points.
Millan, who has now posted nine performances of 20+ points, including five in league play, continues to lead the way for the Black Bears. Millan checks in fourth among league leaders at 17.8 points per game. In conference only action, Millan ranks second in scoring at an impressive 18.9 points per game against leagues foes. The sophomore guard has played a large part in Maine's defensive success as she ranks 14th in the nation in steals (68) and 19th nationally at 3.0 steals per game. Millan has recorded three or more steals in each of her last four games, including five at Binghamton.
Tanesha Sutton, averaging 11.0 points per game, ranks fourth in the league in both rebounding (6.9) and steals (2.3) while checking in seventh at 3.1 assists.
Julie Brosseau joins the duo in double-figures at 11.7 points per game. Brosseau and Millan rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in three-point makes per game (2.2).
Maine's defensive efforts continues to climb in the rankings. The Black Bears check in with the 13th best scoring defense in the nation, allowing just 55.2 points per game - an America East best. Maine has held four of its last five opponents to under 50 points and are surrendering just 51.0 points per game to league opponents. The Black Bears' three-point threats have them atop the league in three-point field goals per game (7.9), three-point makes (182) and attempts (560). Maine's 560 tries from beyond the arc are 28th most nationally. Maine, averaging 64.2 points per game, has forced 15 or more turnovers in 20 of its last 21 games.
SCOUTING HARTFORD:
The Hawks recently had their two-game win streak snapped with a 66-58 loss to Stony Brook on Saturday. The loss, coming on the heels of a dominating 85-49 victory over New Hampshire, slipped the Hawks back to 6-4 in league play. Hartford's strong suit has been in the turnover game where they check in fifth in the nation with a +7.83 turnover margin and 13th nationally at 22.2 turnovers forced per game. The majority of the takeaways have come via the steal where Hartford is second in the NCAA with 309 total steals and fifth with 13.4 per game. Defensively, Hartford is holding opponents to 59.9 points per game. Individually, the Hawks are led by Lindsey Abed who checks in at 13.3 points per game and ranks fifth in the league at 3.9 assists per game. Abed's 89.3 percent mark from the free throw line is 11th nationally. Janelle Harrison is adding 12.1 points and a team-best 6.0 rebounds while Darby Lee (11.3) joins the duo in double-digits. The Hawks have been without point guard Sierra DaCosta after the sophomore suffered an injury on Dec. 28 against Fordham.
A GLIMPSE INTO THE HARTFORD SERIES:
Maine and Hartford will meet for the 74th time in history. The Black Bears enter play holding a 45-28 advantage in the all-time series. Maine has won each of the last five meetings, seven of the last eight, and three straight home games in the series. Earlier this season, Maine held Hartford to its season-low of 44 points in a 59-44 road victory for the Black Bears. Maine, which forced 19 turnovers and held a 37-24 advantage on the boards, was led in scoring by
Blanca Millan (15) and
Tanesha Sutton (14). Hartford's last win in the series came on March 8, 2015 when it defeated the Black Bears, 65-54 in the semifinals of the America East championship. Dating back to 1985, Maine is 24-11 all-time at home against the Hawks.
Blanca Millan has been impressive in her first three outings against the Hawks, tallying double-digits in all three meetings, including 23 in the matchup in Bangor a year ago. Millan enters play averaging 17.3 points against Hartford.
-UMaine-
