Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team opens America East conference play when it travels to meet longtime rival Vermont on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. Maine has won four-straight conference openers, and five of its last six. The Black Bears are 14-10 in America East openers dating back to the league's start in the 1996-97 season. Maine has won eight in a row, and a 15 of its last 16 meetings, with the Catamounts.
Thursday's game will be broadcast live on
ESPN+. The game can also be heard worldwide on the
Black Bear Sports Network and locally in Maine on 92.9 F
M.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
After having its final non-conference game of the season canceled due to positive COVID-19 cases in the Northeastern program, the Black Bears go for their first back-to-back victories of the season after an impressive comeback victory over Dartmouth on Dec. 19.
Anne Simon, a two-time America East Player of the Week honoree this season, continues to lead the league in scoring at 16.4 points per game. Simon, who has notched double-digits in nine of Maine's 10 games including three performances of 20+ points, also sits atop the league in steals at 2.8.
Maeve Carroll, who has double-digit rebounding totals in each of her last three outings, leads the America East in the rebounding column at 9.6. Carroll is nearly averaging a double-double as she checks in at 10.9 points per game.
Alba Orois, averaging 9.4 points per game, is the league's leader in assists (4.8) as the sophomore guard has posted four or more assists in six of Maine's 10 games thus far. Orois, Simon, and Carroll rank first, second, and third, respectively, in minutes this season among America East leaders. As a unit, Maine has posted the third fewest turnovers in the conference, averaging just 14.8 a game, while boasting the league's second-best assist to turnover ratio at 0.86.
A LOOK AT VERMONT:
The Catamounts ended their non-conference schedule with a 61-45 victory at Bryant. Vermont captured victories in four of its final five non-conference contests and enter play with a 5-1 mark on its home court. The Catamounts feature four players averaging double-digit scoring, led by Josie Larkins at 11.9 points per game. Larkins is the top three-point threat in the America East, posting league-leading marks in percentage behind the arc (44.1) and three-point field goals made per game (2.7). Anna Olson is adding 11.5 points and a team-high 7.0 rebounds. Delaney Richason checks in at 10.9 points while Emma Utterback, the team's leading assist threat (3.7), is chipping in 10.8 points. Utterback checks in third among America East leaders in assists and leads the league with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. As a team, Vermont ranks third in the league in scoring (63.0) and second in scoring defense (57.5) while ranking second in the league in three-point shooting (35.7), averaging 6.7 makes from three-point range per game.
SERIES WITH VERMONT:
This will be the first meeting between Maine and Vermont since the two teams squared off the in the America East quarterfinals in March of 2020 after last year's series was canceled. Maine has competed against Vermont more than any of its other opponents as this will mark the 98th all-time meeting between the two teams. The Black Bears currently hold a 63-34 advantage in the all-time series, having won 15 of the last 16 meetings and eight in a row. Since 1985, Maine is 18-14 on the road against Vermont and has won in three-straight trips to Burlington.
Maeve Carroll has registered double-doubles in each of the last three meetings, averaging 21.3 points and 13.3 rebounds in her last three games with Vermont.
Anne Simon has posted double-digit scoring efforts in each of her two outings against Vermont and enters averaging 18.5 points and 7.0 rebounds in the series.
Tale of the Tape
| Maine (3-7, 0-0) |
Category |
Vermont (6-5, 0-0) |
| 54.3 |
Points Per Game |
63.0 |
| 68.2 |
Opponent Points Per Game |
57.5 |
| -13.9 |
Scoring Margin |
+5.5 |
| 37.5 |
Field Goal Percentage |
42.2 |
| 23.8 |
3-Point Field Goal Percentage |
35.7 |
| 56.3 |
Free Throw Percentage |
73.2 |
| 33.5 |
Rebounds Per Game |
34.5 |
| -7.2 |
Rebound Margin |
-3.4 |
| 12.8 |
Assists Per Game |
14.8 |
| 14.8 |
Turnovers Per Game |
14.5 |
| 13.9 |
Turnovers Forced Per Game |
14.9 |
| 6.8 |
Steals Per Game |
6.5 |
| 2.6 |
Blocks Per Game |
3.6 |
-UMaine-
