MAINE vs. HARTFORD
Time, site: Monday, 1 p.m., Cross Insurance Center, Bangor
Records: UMaine 9-10 (2-2 America East); Hartford 12-4 (3-0)
Series, last meeting: UMaine leads 42-28, UMaine 50-44 on 2/24/16
Key players: Maine — 5-8 G Sigi Koizar (13.6 points per game, 3.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists), 6-2 F Laia Sole (9.4 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 1.9 apg), 5-8 G Julie Brosseau (7.4 apg, 1.4 apg), 5-11 F Blanca Millan (7.2 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 1.7 steals per game), 5-10 G Tanesha Sutton (7.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.5 apg); Hartford — 5-7 G Deanna Mayza (15.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.3 apg), 5-9 G Sierra DaCosta (12.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.3 apg), 5-8 G Lindsey Abed (11.4 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.4 spg), 6-0 F Darby Lee (8.9 ppg, 4 rpg), 6-0 F Janelle Harrison (8.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 2 spg)
Game notes: The inconsistent Black Bears are going to have their hands full against a Hartford team that has won five in a row and whose 7-1 start on the road is the best in program history. The Hawks play an uptempo, pressure game under first-year head coach Kim McNeill and they have forced an average of 27.7 turnovers per game. They lead the conference with 12.7 steals per game. UMaine will have to protect the ball and do a much better job in its halfcourt offense than it did in the second half of its forgettable 55-41 loss at Stony Brook. UMaine scored just 10 second-half points on 19.2 percent shooting from the floor. The Black Bears got to the free throw line just five times vs. Stony Brook which is an indictment of their tentative play. Mayza is the first player in program history with 1,000 career points and 300 assists and she leads the conference in assists per game. Hartford is the league’s highest-scoring team (69.9 ppg) while UMaine is third stingiest (58.2 ppg allowed).