ORONO, Maine — If you had told University of Maine senior basketball guard Sarah Talon following her senior year at Windham High School that she would evolve into a valuable defender and rebounder over her four years in Orono, she wouldn’t have believed you.
But that is exactly what has happened. And she couldn’t be happier about her role with the Black Bears.
“I love it. It’s great. I embrace it,” said Talon, who averaged 17.6 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.4 steals her senior year at Windham High School en route to being a Miss Maine Basketball semifinalist and a first team Bangor Daily News All-State All-Schoolgirl team.
She will go into Thursday’s 6 p.m. America East home game against the University of Maryland Baltimore County averaging 5.1 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 6.6 points per game this season along with 1.9 assists. She has also blocked seven shots.
The 5-foot-10 and long-armed Talon is second on the team in rebounds, steals and assists.
Her 77 rebounds are already a single-season high for the senior guard, one more than last year. She has had at least four rebounds in 10 of UMaine’s 15 games and has had six or more seven times.
“I know I’m not going out there and scoring 20 points a game. My role is to defend, get steals and get rebounds, and I work my butt off at it,” said Talon, who averaged double-digit points in her four years at Windham High. “I find myself with a new role every year, and that’s really cool.”
UMaine head coach Amy Vachon said this has been Talon’s best year by far in Orono.
“She has been going out and playing hard, she has been defending and rebounding and really embracing it every day,” Vachon said.
This will be Talon’s fourth and final year on the team.
“She realizes this is it for her,” Vachon added. “She isn’t worried about points or other things. She just wants to win and she has been doing a great job for us.”
Fifth-year senior forward Adrianna Smith said Talon does the “little things that go a long way” in helping her team win basketball games like rebounding, deflecting passes and keeping opponents in front of her on defense.
“Those are things that don’t always get noticed, but she is really good at doing them,” Smith said. “That helps us a lot in every game.”
And it’s a role that Talon embraces.
“To be able to be a spark on the defensive end is a really great feeling. I love helping out my teammates on that end,” Talon said. “And I love bringing intensity on both sides of the floor and also helping create offense for ourselves.”
Talon said the biggest improvement in her game has been her rebounding. She attributed that growth to her focus.
“I watch a shot go up and I find a body and hit someone,” said Talon, who has exceptional jumping ability. “And I have great teammates who help me get better at that every single day.”
She credited UMaine Sports Performance Coach and Director of Basketball Operations Matt Peyton with her improvement thanks to the team’s summer workouts.
“He’a amazing,” Talon said about Peyton. “I’m using my natural ability to jump and run fast in ways I didn’t know I could, and I think it’s showing.”
Talon is a 44.1% shooter from the floor and that includes just a 12.5% showing from beyond the 3-point arc. She is a 55.1% shooter from two-point range.
She is a career 41.6% shooter including 48.3% for two-pointers.
She has a quick first step and that has enabled her to get to the basket.
“She is very athletic,” said Vachon, who considers Talon one of the best athletes in America East.
In fact, for the first time in several years, Talon has given Vachon a player who usually wins the game’s opening tip-off despite being at a size disadvantage the majority of the time.
“Every possession matters in every single game,” said Talon, a former high-scoring forward for the Windham High soccer team who led her team to an undefeated season and the State Class A title her senior year.
Free throw shooting has been a weakness in her game.
She entered the season as a 59% free throw shooter but she is just 14-for-31 this season (45.2%).
“I’ve got to try my best to stay calm. It’s 100% mental. I’ve got to keep working on it,” Talon said.
She can scarcely believe her four years are almost up with the Black Bears.
“People say don’t blink or it’s over. I didn’t believe them and here I am a senior. It went by so quick,” Talon said. “I’m really thankful to have the people who surround me every day and help me be successful on and off the court.”
The Black Bears will take an overall record of 6-9 into the UMBC game. They are 1-1 in the conference. UMBC is 5-8 and 0-1, respectively.
“We aren’t happy with where we are but we want to be playing our best basketball come March,” Talon said. “Every game matters. We want to get one percent better every day.”
Smith continues to lead the Black Bears averaging 20.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. Point guard Asta Blauenfeldt is averaging 11.8 points, 2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 steals.
Junior forward and East Carolina transfer Jade Tillman (14 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 2.3 steals) and freshman guard Kennedy Austin (12 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 1.5 spg) have paced UMBC, which is 36th among 359 Division I schools in offensive rebounds per game (15.2) and 40th in bench points (27). The Retrievers also lead America East in turnovers forced per game at 20.54.
UMaine leads the all-time series 27-16 and has won the last five and 11 of the last 12 on the Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gym.
UMBC has won three of the last five meetings overall.