Point guard Dor Saar, the only University of Maine women’s basketball player to achieve 1,000 points and 500 assists in a career, has found a new home.
Saar will spend her fifth season of eligibility, one granted by the NCAA because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as a graduate transfer student at Conference USA powerhouse Middle Tennessee State University.
Saar was a three-time America East all-conference choice at UMaine after earning the league’s Rookie of the Year honor in 2018. She was a first-team pick last season when she averaged 9.5 points, 4.8 assists and 2.9 rebounds with a 2.3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. She also led the team with 45 3-pointers on 123 attempts (36.6 percent).
Saar could have returned to UMaine next season, but previously said she wanted to try playing in a different conference.
She concluded her four-year career with 1,069 points and 507 assists and her 235 3-pointers are the most in program history. She ranks second all-time in assists behind UMaine head coach Amy Vachon and is 21st on the scoring list.
Saar averaged 9.1 points and 4.3 assists in 117 games for the Black Bears and led the team to three regular-season titles and two tournament championships along with two NCAA Tournament berths.
The 5-foot-6 Saar will join a Middle Tennessee State program that won the Conference USA tournament last season before losing to Top 20 team Tennessee 87-62 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Saar could be an immediate contributor for the Blue Raiders as sisters Anastasia Hayes (26.5 ppg, 5.1 apg) and Aislynn Hayes (14 ppg, 3.5 apg), guards who led the team in scoring and assists, are transferring.
Head coach Rick Insell has guided the Blue Raiders to 10 NCAA Tournament and five WNIT appearances in his 16 seasons. MTSU was 17-8 overall (12-4 CUSA) last winter.
He has a career record of 378-138 and his teams have gone 105-31 in eight years in Conference USA after posting a 123-15 mark in league play as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.