The University of Maine women’s basketball team will be riding a 12 game winning streak into their America East quarterfinal this Saturday in Orono against the Hartford Hawks.
Maine (18-10), who also finished 15-3 in conference play, clinched the top seed and homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs with a 49-45 win at Albany on February 23. The Black Bears were able to gain the top spot regardless, as Stony Brook was ruled ineligible to compete in postseason. The Seawolves made that a formality when they dropped their final two games against UMass-Lowell and Albany, and Maine clinched the regular season title when they finished off a weekend sweep of UMBC on Sunday in Bangor.
Maine hasn’t lost since they dropped a 60-55 decision to UMass-Lowell at home back on January 19. The Black Bears have been led by junior guard Anne Simon, who averages 16.3 points per game, nearly 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and almost 3.0 steals per outing. Simon reached the 1,000 point plateau in a win over Albany on February 9 in Orono, just the 23rd player in the history of the program to do so. The native of Sandweiler, Luxembourg also has 20 straight games scoring in double figures. Fifth year senior Maeve Carroll puts in 10.8 ppg, and also averages 8.5 rebounds. Alba Orois also averages in double figures at 10.1 points, and also dishes out nearly six assists per contest. Hartford (4-25) is led by Paula Maurina at 13.2 points per game and almost 4.0 rebounds. Abby Streiter also puts in 9.7 ppg for the Hawks. Maine won the regular season meetings between the two, 65-44 in West Hartford on January 5 and 71-56 in Orono on February 16. The quarterfinal game is slated for a 1 p.m. tipoff on Saturday at Memorial Gym (The Pit).
Maine will be seeking redemption this season as the #1 seed, as they dropped the America East Championship game on their home court as the top seed at the Pit last season to Stony Brook 64-60. Also on Thursday, America East announced their All-Conference Awards. Simon racked up Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, First Team All-Conference, All-Defensive Team, and All-Academic Team. Carroll was named to the All-Conference Second Team, All-Defensive Team, and All-Academic. Orois made All-Conference Third Team, while freshman guard Paula Gallego was named to the All-Rookie Team, and head coach Amy Vachon was named the Coach of the Year.
