The University of Maine women’s basketball team has bolstered its frontcourt depth with the signing of a German forward.
The program announced Thursday evening the signing of 6-foot-3 forward Kira Barra.
The native of Dillingen, Germany, has competed in the European and German championships over the last six years, and guided her team to back to back U19 German championships in 2015 and 2016.
In addition, she led her team to a victory at the U16 European championships in 2014.
“We are thrilled to announce the signing of Kira Barra,” interim head coach Amy Vachon said in a news release. “Kira will bring a ton of versatility to our team. At 6-3, she is a strong player who can play inside and who also has an outstanding mid-range game. Kira is a fabulous student and person and fits in tremendously with our culture. She also brings a plethora of playing experience with the National Teams in Germany. We are ecstatic that Kira has decided to make UMaine her home for the next four years.”
Barra attended high school at Theo-Koch-Schule in Gruenberg, Germany.
Barra joins 6-3 forward Ashlyn McDonnell of Tennessee as frontcourt recruits.
In addition to Barra’s signing, the UMaine men’s hockey program has added another defenseman for the upcoming season in Finland native Veli-Matti Tiuraniemi.
His commitment was first reported by SBN Nation’s Jeff Cox on Thursday evening.
The 6-foot, 183-pound Tiuraniemi is currently with the United States Hockey League’s Dubuque Fighting Saints.
In 53 regular-season games, Tiuraniemi registered three goals and 19 assists, and he has 1 goal and 3 assists in six playoff games.
Tiuraniemi’s Saints are matched up against another 2017 UMaine recruit, forward Eduards Tralmarks, and the Chicago Steel in the USHL’s Eastern Conference finals.
Tralmarks is tied for the league lead in playoff goals with four, and the Steel and Saints’ series is tied at 1.
The eligibility of all student-athletes is contingent upon admission to the University of Maine and compliance with all NCAA rules, including registration with the NCAA Eligibility Center.
