With only a week of practice under its belt, the University of Maine women’s basketball team tipped off its Canadian exhibition tour Wednesday night with a 74-73 victory over the University of Quebec at Montreal.
Sparked by a combination of veterans and newcomers, coach Cindy Blodgett’s Black Bears pulled out a hard-fought win in their first of four preseason contests north of the border.
“It was great for us in terms of playing a close game,” Blodgett said. “It’s one of those things where I feel pretty fortunate that we’re able in August to experience something like that.”
Freshman guard Ashleigh Roberts was among the catalysts with a team-high 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals in 30 minutes of action. She shared point-guard duties with sophomore Katelyn Vanderhoff (8 points, 7 rebounds).
“It’s always great when you’ve got a couple of ballhandlers in your offense,” Blodgett said.
“The flow of the offense actually, I thought, was really decent,” she added.
Junior forward Samantha Wheeler (15 points, five rebounds, six steals) provided a spark with her all-around play.
“I can’t tell you how many times she hit the floor, whether she got a steal or a deflection,” Blodgett said. “She set the tone for us as far as all-out effort and hustle.”
Blodgett also praised junior forward Samantha Baranowski (17 points, 5 rebounds), whose offensive rebound and free throw provided the eventual winning margin with 10 seconds left.
Junior college transfer Sheay Longstaff chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds.
“She hit a couple of big shots for us when we really needed it,” Blodgett said.
This is the first year the NCAA has allowed teams taking foreign preseason tours to include incoming players, so the timing is good for UMaine to start integrating Roberts, Longstaff and the other freshmen.
UMaine plays Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Friday at 7 p.m., then will head to Fredericton, New Brunswick, for games Sunday and Monday against the University of New Brunswick.
Babbe playing with Black Bears
Greer Babbe of Papillion, Neb., has joined the UMaine women’s team this season as a nonscholarship player.
“I basically said, ‘I can’t offer you a scholarship this year, but I’m not going to treat you any different than any other players on the roster,” Blodgett said. “If you earn minutes, you’re going to play.”
The 6-foot-3 forward visited Orono with her father last year and attended one of the Bears’ exhibition games.
“She found the school to be a real nice fit academically,” Blodgett said. “And she felt from a basketball standpoint this would be a very exciting place to play.”
After averaging 3 points and 3 rebounds as a junior at Papillion-La Vista High School, Babbe was a Class A all-state honorable mention and a Coaches’ All-Metro by the Omaha World Herald last season.
She also played volleyball and competed in track and field, throwing the discus, in high school.
While Babbe is a post player, Blodgett utilized her some at small forward during practice for the Canadian tour because of injuries.
“She’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades for us right now,” Blodgett said.
“She’s a very hard worker and she has a great personality, really positive.”
Four Black Bears sidelined
Four players will not compete during the Canadian swing because of injuries or continuing rehabilitation.
Lone senior Tanna Ross of Newburgh and redshirt freshman guard Rachele Burns of Gorham are both working their way back from knee surgery.
Meanwhile, junior point guard Brittany Williams is nursing a significant shoulder injury and redshirt freshman forward Shareka Maner, who has been working out with the team, is being held out of action as a precautionary measure after having shoulder surgery that forced her to miss last season.
Bickford takes Saint Joseph’s post
Former Olympian and Maine running standout Bruce Bickford has been named the men’s and women’s cross country coach at Saint Joseph’s College in Standish, athletic director Brian Curtin announced Thursday.
Bickford replaces Tom Dann, who stepped down earlier this summer after 14 years.
Bickford goes to Saint Joseph’s after a three-year stint at Cheverus High School in Portland where he guided the Stags’ cross country and track teams.
Prior to coaching at Cheverus, he served as the head coach at University of Southern Maine in Gorham for four years and Brandeis University for seven seasons.
Bickford, a Lawrence High of Fairfield graduate, earned four NCAA Division I All-America honors at Northeastern University and still owns school records in the two-mile (8:40.56) and 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:33.6).
He qualified for the Olympic Trials for the 1980 Moscow Games, which was boycotted by the United States, in three events (3,000 steeplechase, 5,000 and 10,000) and served as an alternate on the 1984 Olympic team.
In 1985, after winning a 10K race in Stockholm, Sweden (in 27:37.7), the fastest 10K in the world that year — Bickford was ranked first internationally in the 10,000 by Track and Field News. He went on to win 10,000 meters in the PanAm Games in 1987 and was the only American to qualify for the 1988 Seoul Olympics in that event.
Bickford has been inducted into the Maine Running (1989), Northeastern University (1991) and Maine Sports (1993) halls of fame.