Women’s Basketball
MAINE vs. DARTMOUTH
Time, site: Saturday, 1 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Records: UMaine 4-5, Dartmouth 3-4
Series, last meeting: UMaine leads 11-4, UMaine 59-41 on 12/6/15
Key players: UMaine — 5-8 G Sigi Koizar (14.4 points per game, 3.4 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 1.8 steals), 6-2 F Laia Sole (10.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 2.7 apg), 5-11 F Blanca Millan (7-1 ppg, 1.9 spg, 1.7 apg), 5-10 G Tanesha Sutton (6.1 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2.1 apg), 5-8 G Julie Brosseau (5.6 ppg), 6-0 G Naira Caceres (4.6 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
Dartmouth — 6-0 G Kate Letkewicz (12 ppg, 7 rpg), 6-1 G-F Fanni Szabo (8.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 1.9 apg), 6-3 Isalys Quinones (8 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.7 spg), 6-2 C Olivia Smith (7.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.3 blocks per game), 6-3 F Emily Dryden (6 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
Game notes: Koizar has averaged 18.3 points over her last four games and has hit nine of her 20 3-point attempts (.450) in the past two contests. Dartmouth’s Smith is a Yarmouth native and Catherine McAuley of Portland graduate who was a Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl Basketball first-team pick in 2014. The Big Green is searching for its first winning season since the 2008-2009 campaign, when it won the Ivy League title and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament. The Black Bears played exceptional defense in their 69-49 win over Northeastern on Wednesday and will need to continue to do so against Dartmouth. They have to do a better job on the boards, as NU grabbed 20 offensive rebounds to extend possessions. Letkewicz had 17 points and 12 rebounds in a 61-49 win over Boston University on Wednesday. Szabo has 1,070 career points.
Men’s Basketball
MAINE at DARTMOUTH
Time, site: Saturday, 2 p.m., Leede Arena, Hanover, New Hampshire
Records: UMaine 3-6, Dartmouth 0-7
Series, last meeting: Dartmouth leads 12-10; Dartmouth 79-69 on 12/9/15
Key players: UMaine — 6-2 G Wes Myers (12.2 points, 4.4 rebounds per game), 6-6 G Ilker Er (11.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg, .410 3-pt. FG percentage), 6-7 F Andrew Fleming (9.6 ppg, 5.6 rpg), 6-7 F Marko Pirovic (7.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg); Dartmouth — 6-8 F Evan Boudreaux (17.0 ppg, 8.7 rpg), 6-2 G Guillen Smith (10.6 ppg, 3.3 rpg), 6-5 G Miles Wright (9.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg)
Outlook: UMaine looks to build on its hard-fought 55-53 win over Holy Cross on Wednesday night. Defense was pivotal in that win for the Black Bears, who held an opponent to less than 60 points for just the second time this season. The earlier defensive gem marked their only other Division I win to date against Longwood (80-58). Ten different players have started at least one game for UMaine, with Myers and Er coming off the bench for the first time against Holy Cross. It’s been a slow start to a new basketball era at Dartmouth, which has yet to win its first game under first-year head coach David McLaughlin. The 1997 Colby College graduate, a four-year letterwinner under legendary Mules’ head coach Dick Whitmore, came to the Big Green after three years as associate head coach at Northeastern. Dartmouth’s nonconference schedule has included losses to Boston College, nationally ranked Rhode Island and a 73-58 setback against America East favorite Vermont on Wednesday despite 10 points and 10 rebounds by Boudreaux. The Big Green boast the last two Ivy League Rookies of the Year in junior Wright and sophomore Guillen Smith. UMaine plays its final in-state game of 2016 on Dec. 18 against Quinnipiac at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.