Preview: Women’s Basketball Returns Home to Host UMass Lowell

ORONO, Maine — The Black Bears return home at 7 p.m. Wednesday night to continue conference play against UMass Lowell at Memorial Gymnasium in Orono. Maine, who are looking to go 2-0 in the league for the second time in the past three seasons, beat their conference opponents 6-3 at home a year ago. Maine has won 48 and lost 7 against league opponents at home in the past five seasons. Tickets are still available and can be purchased online for him at GoBlackBears.com/tickets, by phone for him at 207-581-BEAR, or at the UMaine Athletics box office.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and can be heard locally on 92.9 The Ticket and nationally on GoBlackBears.com.

Final timeout:
Smithfield, Rhode Island — The University of Maine women’s basketball team capitalized on a strong second quarter and impressive efforts from each player. Sarah Taron When Adriana Smith Thursday afternoon gave new America East member Bryant a 74-62 win.

The win marks Maine’s sixth straight season of 1-0 starts in conference play and marks Maine’s 11th consecutive road conference victory dating back to the 2020-21 season.

Taron scored a career and game-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting along with five rebounds and two steals. Smith packed his seat with 19 points, a career-high 13 rebounds, five assists, two steals and one block, registering the conference leading double-double for the sixth time. Jaycee Christopher Joined double-digit duo with 10 points.

In total, Maine finished the afternoon with 31 of 66 (47.0) from the floor, including 7 of 22 from downtown. The Maine had a rebounding margin by just 36-33, forcing 17 Bryant turnovers in the outing.

Watch Black Bear:
Maine is chasing its fifth Eastern United States regular season crown in the last six years, led by the Swiss Army Knife. Adriana SmithWith double-digit scoring in each of his last four appearances, Smith leads the Eastern United States and ranks 26th in the nation with six double-doubles in 13 games. He checked in second in the league in both rebounds (8.2) and assists (3.8), and ranked ninth in points scored (11.3). Caroline Bornemann added 10.4 points, 13th-highest among leaders in the US East and fifth in 6.5 rebounds per contest. Olivia LockwoodRanked fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (2.0) and from downtown (32.9), they average 8.2 points. Anne SimonFreshman returns from injury after missing eight main games at Harvard Jaycee Christopher Same as freshmen while averaging 6.2 points and shooting 46.5 percent from downtown. Sarah Taronis adding 5.8 points, coming out of a career-high 21-point outing. Maine ranks him sixth in the American East in both scoring (57.6) and his defense scoring (63.5), while he ranks top-ranked in his 3-pointers of 7.4 per game. It continues to keep pace with the league.

SEE UMASS LOWELL:
The Riverhawks started the season with eight straight losses before earning their first and only win of the season on December 7 against Central Connecticut State. UMass Lowell, who is 0-5 this season, gave NJIT a 60-56 decision in Sunday’s league opener. The Riverhawks ranked 338th out of his 350 teams, averaging 51.7 points per game and allowing his 68.9 points, the worst in the American East. UMass Lowell, who ranks first in the league with 18.2 turnovers, puts him 21.2 per game, which ranks him 9th in the league and 334th nationally. Jaini Edmonds leads the Hawks on the river with her 9.5 points per game scoring. Ivory Finley has 9.2 points and he added 4.8 rebounds, and Kaylen Vanwaresingh has her 8.6 points and her 7.6 boards, a team-high.

Series of UMASS LOWELL:
Maine and UMass Lowell have their 20th meeting. Maine, 17-2 with the River Hawks, won the first 12 games of the head-to-head series. Maine won his 58-36 at Lowell, the latest meeting of the series, with him going 4-1 in his final four games against UMass Lowell. UMass Lowell won the final trip to Maine, 60-55. Maine is 10-1 at home in the series so far since the River Hawks joined the American East in 2013, winning his first 10 games in Maine. The first ever matchup between the two teams was on January 23, 2014 at Lowell, when Black and his Bears won him 75–66.

 

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