Eastern Maine Sports

The University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball team will begin their 24 game 2018-19 schedule this coming Friday night when they host Navy Prep in a game played at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland. The Moose will then open their conference schedule by hosting Vermont Tech at CMCC in Auburn Saturday night. Both games are set for 6 pm.

UMA went 22-7 in 2017-18, with a 13-3 mark in conference play. The Moose play in the Yankee Small College Conference, and lost in the league title game back in February to CMCC. They did also advance to play in the USCAA championships in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, and lost a quarterfinal game to Villa Maria before falling to Davis in a consolation contest to end their season.

There is only one senior on this years squad, with five freshman, four sophomores, and one junior. The senior is ex-Mount Ararat star Caitlin Lafountain. Lafountain led the Moose in points per game (17.5), rebounds per game (12.1), and field goal percentage (61.3) in 2017-18. The only other upperclassman returning is junior forward Kate Stevens who played at Carrabec High. Stevens was a starter last season and as a sophomore averaged 8.0 points per game, and 7.9 rebounds. Also returning will be sophomores Emily Billings from Mountain Valley, Catherine Sanborn from Kents Hill, and Mallory Chamberlain from Erskine.

This years team does include one local returning starter, along with five incoming freshman that hope to help the Moose to a league title and another appearance in the national tournament. Returning will be sophomore guard Sidney Moore. Moore, who played for Nokomis Regional High, was third in scoring on the team last season at 12.6 points per game, and was second in field goal percentage (48.1) and three point percentage (40.9).

The newcomers on the roster include Kathryn Ross from Winthrop High, Hunter Hoague from Erskine, Sydney Leblanc from Madison, Jenna Petrovic from Winslow, and Cassidy Lessner from Highview Christian Academy. Lessner, who transferred from Central of East Corinth after her freshman season, led the Knights of Highview (Charleston) to a pair of appearances in the Class D South basketball tournament as a three year starter. She was also the second leading girls basketball scorer in HCA history.

UMA will also be lead by a new head coach, in first year hire Alex Stern. Stern takes over for Jennifer Laney who had directed the Moose since the fall of 2008, and stays at the school as Director of Athletics and Wellness. Stern was an assistant coach for women’s basketball at Salem University in Florida last season. Before that, Stern helped lead Trinity College (Florida) men’s basketball to an appearance in a national title game in 2014-15 as an assistant. He then helped launch a new women’s basketball program while at Trinity in 2015-16 and 2016-17, also as an assistant leading the Tigers from one victory their first ever season to 12 the next and an appearance as a #2 seed in the national tournament.

Eastern Maine Sports will follow UMA women’s basketball throughout the season with recaps, including their first conference game Saturday, November 3 from Central Maine Community College vs Vermont Tech.

Below is the 2018-19 schedule with home games listed in bold and * denotes conference games: