University of Maine women’s basketball scoring leader Anne Simon is listed as day-to-day by the university after suffering an ankle injury in the third period of Thursday night’s 68-49 victory over UMass Lowell at the Memorial Gym.
She injured her right ankle with 7:56 left in the third period when she landed on it after missing a layup off a Sarah Talon pass on a fast break. She didn’t return but had an ice bag on her ankle on the bench and had her leg elevated.
She is expected to travel with the team for Saturday’s 2 p.m. America East game at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island.
Following the Bryant game, UMaine won’t play again until the following Saturday, Feb. 10, when it hosts New Hampshire at 2 p.m.
It is the same ankle that she injured a year ago which sidelined her for a total of 16 games. She had two eight-game stints on the bench.
She first injured the ankle in a 55-46 loss to Yale University on Nov. 19 and returned to the lineup in an 84-56 loss to Harvard on Dec. 18.
She reinjured it in a 50-46 victory over Binghamton on Jan. 21 and returned on Feb. 22 in an 80-67 win over New Hampshire and she finished the season.
The Black Bears went 6-10 without her in the lineup and 10-4 with her.
The 5-foot-8 graduate student guard from Luxembourg is leading America East in scoring with 17.4 points per game. She is second in steals (2.5), third in rebounds (7.2) and fifth in assists (3.4). She has been named the league’s Player of the Week five times already this season.
The 2021-22 America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year ranks seventh on UMaine’s all-time scoring list with 1,740 points.
Head coach Amy Vachon and the Black Bear players are ready to move on without her if she is sidelined.
“We did it all of last year. We’ll be fine,” said Vachon.
“We’re a team. We’re going to play with what we have,” said junior forward and reigning America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith, who leads the conference in rebounding (11 rpg), is second in points (16.6 ppg) and is third in assists with 4.3 per contest.
Senior guard-forward Caroline Bornemann said it is going to take a team effort.
“We all have to step up, shoot with confidence and play with confidence,” said Bornemann, who is UMaine’s third-leading scorer (8.6 ppg) and rebounder (6 rpg).
UMaine has no shortage of guards to fill the void left by Simon’s possible absence but Simon, Smith and Bornemann are the only Black Bears averaging over six points per game.
One guard who has had a recent resurgence is junior Paula Gallego, who had six points, six assists and two steals in the win over UMass Lowell after registering 10 points and 11 rebounds in the previous game, a 59-56 win at Binghamton.
Bryant is 10-11 overall and 3-5 in America East.
The Bulldogs feature 6-foot-3 senior center Mariona Planes Fortuny (16.3 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3 apg) and freshman guards Mia Mancini (14.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg) and Martina Boba (8.6 ppg, 3 rpg, 1.9 apg).
UMaine is currently tied with Albany and Vermont atop the America East standings with 7-1 records.
They are 1-1 against each other as UMaine has beaten Vermont at home and lost to Albany on the road and Albany lost at home to Vermont on Thursday.
Defending champ Vermont has an advantage because its remaining games against UMaine and Albany are both at home. They will play them back-to-back on Feb. 17 and Feb. 22, respectively.
Albany and UMaine play their regular season finale in Orono on March 2.