Orono, Maine -- The University of Maine women's basketball team looks for the season sweep of Vermont when the Black Bears square off on Sunday at 1 p.m. in the 99th meeting between the two programs. Sunday's game will be televised live on NESN, streamed live on
ESPN+, and heard across the
Black Bears Sports Network and on 92.9 The Ticket FM.
The Black Bears will host their annual National Girls & Women in Sports Celebration, presented by Bangor Savings Bank, on Sunday with an interactive sports fair beginning at 11:00 a.m. on the Cross Insurance Center floor level. Numerous varsity and club sports programs will be in attendance to offer youth fans the chance to try their hand at all of the sports while the cheerleaders will host a face painting station. Following the game, fans are encouraged to stick around as the women's basketball team will host a team autograph session. For more details, and to RSVP for the Interactive Sports Fair, please click
here.
Tickets are available for Sunday's game at
TicketMaster.com or at the Cross Insurance Center box office.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
The Black Bears, winners of two of their last three outings, are holding conference opponents to just 55.4 points per game and have held three of their last five opponents to 51 points or fewer. Maine is coming off one of its most impressive defensive performances of the year as it held New Hampshire to 45 points while forcing a season-high 23 turnovers on a season-best 17 steals. The performance marked the sixth time this season in which Maine had tallied 10+ steals in a game.
Anne Simon continues to guide Maine's scoring with a league-leading 16.7 points per game. Simon, who has registered double-figures in all but one game this season, stands just 63 points away from 1,000 in her career. Defensively, Simon is coming off a season-high eight steals and checks in atop the America East rankings and 10th in the nation at 3.00 steals per game.
Alba Orois continues to set the tone as the America East leader in assists at 5.5 per game, good for 22nd in the nation. Orois, who ranks third in the nation at 38.3 minutes per game, is adding 9.0 points per game.
Maeve Carroll, coming off her sixth double-double digit rebounding performance of the season, ranks second best in the league at 8.0 rebounds per game. Carroll stands just 56 rebounds shy of 700 in her career.
Caroline Bornemann tallied 14 points at New Hampshire for her fifth double-digit scoring performance of the year, her fifth double-digit scoring total in her last eight games. Â
A LOOK AT VERMONT:
The Catamounts roll into town winners of four of their last five but recently had a four-game win streak snapped with a 71-63 loss to Stony Brook. Vermont, 3-4 on the road this season, leads the league in three-point shooting at 34.1 percent and 6.5 makes from beyond the arc per game. Vermont ranks second in the America East in scoring defense, holding opponents to 55.7 points per game, while ranking tops in the conference with a 42.5 percent mark from the floor. Emma Utterback leads Vermont at 12.2 points per game, ranks third in the league at 3.9 assists, and checks in as the league-leader with a 2.0 assist to turnover ratio. Josie Larkins, Vermont's latest member of its 1,000 point club, ranks ninth in the league in scoring at 12.2 points per game. Larkins leads Vermont's three-point offense as she checks in second in the league in three-point shooting (40.6) and second in three-point field goals per game (2.7).
SERIES WITH VERMONT:
This will mark the 99th all-time meeting between the two teams. The Black Bears currently hold a 64-34 advantage in the all-time series, having won 16 of the last 17 meetings and nine in a row. Since 1985, Maine is 24-11 at home against Vermont.
Tale of the Tape
| Maine (7-10, 4-3) |
Category |
Vermont (11-8. 5-3) |
| 56.5 |
Points Per Game |
64.3 |
| 62.9 |
Opponent Points Per Game |
55.7 |
| -6.4 |
Scoring Margin |
+8.6 |
| 38.3 |
Field Goal Percentage |
42.5 |
| 27.5 |
3-Point Field Goal Percentage |
34.1 |
| 62.2 |
Free Throw Percentage |
74.2 |
| 32.7 |
Rebounds Per Game |
35.4 |
| -5.8 |
Rebound Margin |
-0.2 |
| 13.6 |
Assists Per Game |
15.0 |
| 14.2 |
Turnovers Per Game |
14.4 |
| 15.5 |
Turnovers Forced Per Game |
16.2 |
| 7.9 |
Steals Per Game |
7.0 |
| 2.5 |
Blocks Per Game |
3.6 |
-UMaine-
