Women’s Basketball
MAINE vs. UMASS LOWELL
Time, site: Wednesday, 7 p.m. Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Records: Maine 9-6 (1-1 America East), UMass Lowell 7-8 (1-2)
Series, last meeting: Maine leads 2-0, Maine 84-65 on 2/26/14
Key players: Maine — 5-8 G Sigi Koizar (14.8 points per game, 3.8 rebounds per game, 2.6 assists per game, 1.8 steals per game), 5-10 F Liz Wood (12.7 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.9 spg), 6-4 F Anna Heise (8.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg, .522 FG pct.), 5-8 G Sophie Weckstrom (7.5 ppg), 6-2 F Mikaela Gustafsson (3.4 ppg), 5-10 G/F Chantel Charles (1.6 ppg, 1.6 apg, 1.1 spg); UML — 5-5 G Shannon Samuels (15.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.6 spg), 5-9 G Jasmine McRoy (13.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), 5-11 F Kayla Gibbs (6.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg), 6-2 F Lindsey Doucette (9.4 ppg, 6.7 rpg), 5-9 G Brianna Rudolph (5.5 ppg, 2.8 rpg)
Game notes: The Black Bears eye their second straight win after ending a two-game skid with a 68-57 victory at Hartford on Saturday. UMass Lowell lost 78-50 to Albany. The matchup pits the Bears’ league-leading defense (56.0 ppg) against the River Hawks, whose 66.6 ppg top the conference. Conversely, UML has surrendered a league-high 72.7 ppg while UMaine’s 57.9 points per contest rank last in AE. As they did against Hartford, the Bears may implement more player-to-player defense against UML, which is averaging seven 3-pointers in league play. UMaine must check out on the boards against the hustling River Hawks and the Bears need to find a the right balance of when to push the tempo in transition against turnover-prone UML (21.7 turnovers per game in AE action). Finally, UMaine must find a way to better incorporate Wood into the offensive mix. She is averaging 8 points and 4 rebounds in the last three games. Bears junior shooting guard Lauren Bodine continues to be limited by a leg injury.