The 2014-2015 season ended with a loss to Villanova in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.
On Friday night, the Black Bears will be back in action for the first time since the NIT when they take on Vanguard University in a 7 p.m. exhibition game at the University of Southern Maine’s Hill Gymnasium in Gorham.
Coach Richard Barron features one of the most experienced and deep UMaine teams in recent memory as it gears up for a Nov. 13 season opener at Harvard. The Black Bears this week were ranked 19th in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
The squad, which includes all five starters and 13 letterwinners from last season, is led by senior forward Liz Wood, an All-America East first-team selection who also was the league’s Co-Defensive Player of the Year. She has been practicing normally coming off surgery on her left knee in September.
The Black Bears also feature senior forwards Mikaela Gustafsson and Anna Heise, senior guards Sophie Weckstrom and Lauren Bodine, and junior guard Sigi Koizar.
Friday’s opponent is Vanguard, a private Christian University that competes in the NAIA. The Lions posted a 22-8 record last season, including a 12-4 mark in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
Vanguard is making its annual trip against Division I opponents, one that this year includes UCLA, defending NCAA national champion Connecticut, Maine and Boston College.
The Lions opened the exhibition campaign with a 113-42 loss at UCLA. Head coach Russ Davis, a four-time NAIA coach of the year, is in his 20th season at Vanguard.
UMaine, which rose as high as No. 19 in the mid-major poll last season, returns home for a 4 p.m. exhibition contest on Sunday against Division II Stonehill at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Tickets for UMaine’s game against Vanguard at USM can be purchased at the door and are $7 for adults, $5 for students and $5 for seniors (55 and over). Children 6 and under, along with USM students, staff and faculty with a valid ID, are admitted free.