Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team begins the second half of its conference slate on the road at Hartford in another rematch of last year's America East title game on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. Maine has won in seven of its last eight trips to Hartford but stumbled a year ago, suffering a 49-46 loss on the road. However, Maine has rebounded to win each of the last three meetings between the two squads, including an 87-73 victory to open conference play this season.
Saturday's game will be streamed at
ESPN+. As always, Don Shields will have the call on the radio airwaves locally on 96.1 WGUY-FM and worldwide at
GoBlackBears.com.
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TALE OF THE TAPE:
| Maine |
Category |
Hartford |
| 8-14,4-4 |
Record |
0-21, 0-8 |
| 58.8 |
Points Per Game |
52.0 |
| 63.5 |
Opponent Points Per Game |
68.3 |
| -4.7 |
Scoring Margin |
-16.3 |
| 39.3 |
Field Goal Percentage |
32.4 |
| 31.9 |
3-Point Field Goal Percentage |
27.2 |
| 74.3 |
Free Throw Percentage |
67.5 |
| 29.8 |
Rebound Per Game |
39.0 |
| -7.5 |
Rebound Margin |
-2.6 |
| 12.9 |
Assists Per Game |
9.0 |
| 13.8 |
Turnover Per Game |
19.7 |
| 6.7 |
Steals Per Game |
5.3 |
| 1.2 |
Blocks Per Game |
2.8 |
OVERVIEW:
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
The Black Bears are looking for their second consecutive league road win after handing Vermont a 65-47 decision to end a three-game road trip. Maine, which will be playing its fourth road game in its past five outings, continues to lead the conference in league scoring, averaging 65.3 points per game through its first eight America East contests.
The Black Bears are the only team in the league with three scorers represented among the top-10 in points per game in America East play in
Maeve Carroll (14.9),
Anne Simon (13.9) and
Dor Saar (13.3). Overall, Saar leads the way averaging 11.6 points per game on the season while ranking second among America East assists leaders at 4.2 per game. Saar is coming off the fourth, 20+ scoring performance of her career after netting a game-high 26 against UMBC. Saar, who has posted double-digit scoring efforts in each of her last two games, checks in second best among league leaders in 3-point field goals made per game at 2.5 while ranking fifth overall in 3-point percentage (34.1).
Anne Simon, a three-time America East Rookie of the Week, ranks second among America East freshman in scoring at 10.9 points per game. Simon, who has registered double-digits in eight of her last 10, has also been productive on the defensive end where she ranks ninth at 1.5 steals per game.
Maeve Carroll is adding 10.7 points while ranking fourth among league leaders in rebounding at 7.4 boards per game. Carroll is nearly averaging double-double in league play at 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds in eight America East outings, with four double-doubles over the eight game span.
Maddy McVicar is adding 8.8 points per game with a 33.7-percent mark from beyond the arc.
Kelly Fogarty is chipping in 7.6 points with the majority of her offensive production coming from 3-point range where she ranks fourth-best in the league at 36.8-percent. A total of 49 of Fogarty's 58 field goals this season have come from beyond the arc.
Maine continues to be among the nation's leaders in 3-point shooting. The Black Bears rank 12th in 3-point field goal attempts (521), 3-point field goals made (165) and 3-point field goals made per game (7.5), leading the America East in all three categories. Maine has also limited its mistakes on offense, averaging just 13.8 turnovers per game.
A LOOK AT HARTFORD:
The Hawks are still searching for their first win of the season under first-year head coach, Morgan Valley. The Hawks rank 343 in the country out of 348 teams in scoring (52.0) and check in last among America East leaders in scoring defense, allowing 68.3 points per game. Hartford also ranks last in the league in turnovers per game, giving it away 19.7 times per game, while averaging just 9.0 assists. Rebounding has been a strength for the Hawks as they rank third among league leaders at 38.9 per game. Individually, Jada Lucas paces the scoring attack at 12.4 points, 10th best in the America East. Carmen Villalobos has set the tone on the boards for Hartford, ranking sixth in the league at 6.8 per game to go along with 8.3 points. Jordan McLemore is adding 9.5 points and a team-best 2.9 assists.
SERIES WITH HARTFORD:
Maine and Hartford will meet for the 80th time in history with the Black Bears holding a 50-29 advantage in the all-time series. Maine is 21-14 on the road against the Hawks and have won in seven of its last eight trips to Hartford. The Hawks came out on top in Maine's trip to Hartford a year ago, defeating the Black Bears 49-46. Maine has won each of its last eight meetings at home with Hartford, including an 87-73 win on Jan. 2 of this year. In that game, four Black Bears registered double-digits led by Fogarty's 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting from 3-point range. McVicar chipped in 20 points, with 13 in the third quarter, while
Maeve Carroll added 18 points and eight assists. Simon rounded out the effort with 15 points. Maine put the game away in the third, outscoring Hartford 31-20 in the quarter, while assisting on 26 of its 34 buckets. Maine has won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams. The teams first met in 1985, a 71-53 victory by the Black Bears. Saar is averaging 10.3 points and 5.1 assists in seven career outings against the Hawks.
-UMaine-
