Orono, Maine -- The Black Bears return home to continue conference play against UMass Lowell on Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono. Maine, looking to start 2-0 in league play for the second time in the past three seasons, went 6-3 at home against conference foes a year ago. Maine is 48-7 at home against league opponents over the past five season. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online at
GoBlackBears.com/tickets, by phone at 207-581-BEAR, or at the UMaine Athletics Box Office.
The game can be seen live on
ESPN+ and heard locally on 92.9 The Ticket and nationally at
GoBlackBears.com.
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LAST TIME OUT:
Smithfield, R.I. -- The University of Maine women's basketball team used a strong second quarter and impressive individual efforts from
Sarah Talon and
Adrianna Smith to notch a 74-62 victory on the road at new America East member Bryant on Thursday afternoon.
The win gives Maine a 1-0 start to conference play for the sixth consecutive season and also marks Maine's 11th consecutive road conference victory dating back to the 2020-21 season.
Talon turned in a career and game-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with five rebounds and a pair of steals. Smith registered her conference leading sixth double-double as she packed the stat sheet with 19 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a block.
Jaycie Christopher joined the duo in double-figures with 10 points.
In total, Maine finished the afternoon 31-of-66 (47.0) from the floor including a 7-of-22 mark from downtown. Maine won the rebounding margin by a slim, 36-33 margin, and forced 17 Bryant turnovers in the outing.
A LOOK AT THE BLACK BEARS:
Maine, looking for its fifth America East regular season crown in the last six years, is led by swiss-army knife
Adrianna Smith. Smith, who has tallied double-digit scoring in each of her last four outings, leads the America East and ranks 26th nationally with six double-doubles through 13 games. Smith checks in second in the league in both rebounding (8.2) and assists (3.8) while ranking ninth in scoring (11.3).
Caroline Bornemann is adding 10.4 points, 13th best among America East leaders, and fifth with 6.5 rebounds per contest.
Olivia Rockwood, who ranks fourth in the league in three-pointers made (2.0) and percentage from downtown (32.9), is averaging 8.2 points.
Anne Simon, who returned from injury in Maine's game at Harvard after missing eight games, is averaging 9.2 points but suffered another injury in the first half at Bryant in Maine's last outing. Freshman
Jaycie Christopher is averaging 6.2 points while shooting 46.5 percent from downtown while fellow freshman
Sarah Talon, coming off a career-high 21 point outing, is adding 5.8 points. Maine ranks sixth in America East in both scoring (57.6) and scoring defense (63.5) and continues to pace the league with a top-ranked 7.4 three pointers made per game.
A LOOK AT UMASS LOWELL:
The River Hawks opened the season with an eight game losing streak before picking up their first, and only, victory of the season on Dec. 7 against Central Connecticut State. UMass Lowell, 0-5 on the road this season, dropped a 60-56 decision to NJIT in its league opener on Sunday. The River Hawks rank 338th out of 350 teams in scoring, averaging 51.7 points per game and have allowed an America East worst 68.9 points. UMass Lowell, who ranks first in the league with 18.2 turnovers forced, are giving it away 21.2 times per game, ninth in the league and 334th nationally. Jaini Edmonds leads the River Hawks in scoring at 9.5 points per game. Ivory Finley is adding 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds while Kaylen Banwareesingh is chipping in 8.6 points and a team-high 7.6 boards.
SERIES WITH UMASS LOWELL:
Maine and UMass Lowell are meeting for the 20th time. Maine, 17-2 all-time against the River Hawks, won the first 12 games of the head-to-head series. Maine, 4-1 in its last four outings with UMass Lowell, won the most recent meeting in the series, 58-36 at Lowell. UMass Lowell won in its last trip to Maine, 60-55.Since the River Hawks joined the America East in 2013, Maine is 10-1 at home in the all-time series, winning the first 10 meetings in Maine. The first-ever meeting between the two teams came on Jan. 23, 2014, a 75-66 victory by the Black Bears in Lowell. Â
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Tale of the Tape
| Maine |
Category |
UMass Lowell |
| 57.6 |
Points Per Game |
51.7 |
| 63.5 |
Opponent Points Per Game |
68.9 |
| -5.9 |
Scoring Margin |
-17.2 |
| 41.4 |
FG Pct. |
34.0 |
| 33.7 |
3-Pt FG Pct. |
27.2 |
| 70.2 |
FT Pct. |
74.7 |
| 31.7 |
Rebound Per Game |
31.4 |
| -2.8 |
Rebound Margin |
-6.3 |
| 13.5 |
Assists Per Game |
9.4 |
| 17.2 |
Turnovers Per Game |
21.2 |
| 12.8 |
Turnovers Forced Per Game |
18.2 |
| 5.5 |
Steals Per Game |
7.7 |
| 2.8 |
Blocks Per Game |
3.5 |
-UMaine-
