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Women's Basketball to Play Host to Boston University Wednesday
Feb. 28, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
The Opening Tip The University of Maine women's basketball team returns home Wednesday night to play host to Boston University at 7:30 p.m., at Alfond Arena. The game is the first of two-straight home contests for the Black Bears to close out the 2005-06 regular season. Maine enters the contest with an 8-17 overall record and 4-10 mark in America East competition. BU comes in at 16-9 and 9-5 in the league. The Terriers handed the Black Bears an 80-61 loss back on Jan. 29 in Agganis Arena in Boston. Maine is coming off a 65-41 loss at Hartford on Saturday. The Black Bears only trailed by seven at 28-21 at halftime, but the Hawks used a 12-2 run to open the second half and lead by double-digits the rest of the way. Boston dropped a 76-63 decision to New Hampshire on Saturday. A win for Maine would be its second-straight victory at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears pulled out a 69-58 win over UNH the last time they played in their friendly confines, back on Feb. 18. Scouting Boston University Boston University enters Saturday's game with a 16-9 record overall and 9-5 mark in America East play. BU is coming off a 76-63 loss to New Hampshire on Saturday. The Terriers have been a solid road team this season, as they are 7-5 away from Boston overall and an impressive 4-3 in league road games. BU is led in scoring by Rachael Vanderwal, who is posting an average of 12.8 points per game. She has also been strong on the glass by averaging 6.8 rebounds a contest. Boston's other double-figure scorers are Erica Kovach (11.3) and Cheri Raffo (10.7). Kasey Devine leads the squad in rebounding at 7.7 a night. Vanderwal is the team's leader in assists at 3.7, while Christine Kinneary is the leader in steals at 1.3 a contest. Maine-BU Series History Maine leads the all-time series with Boston University by a count of 37-20. The Terriers have won the last two in the series, including an 80-61 victory back on Jan. 29 at Agganis Arena. The Black Bears have won four straight at home against BU, including a 59-56 victory last season in Orono. High Scoring Opponents Maine will face the top-two scoring teams in America East this week to close out the regular season. Boston University ranks second at 67.3 points a game, while Stony Brook leads the conference at 67.4. The Black Bears rank sixth in the conference in scoring defense, allowing opponents to average 63.7 points a contest. Barker Career-High In Points Last Time Versus Terriers Bracey Barker was the lone bright spot for Maine in its 80-61 loss at BU back on Jan. 29, as the junior forward equaled a career-high with 26 points and pulled down eight rebounds. She was 8-of-16 (.500) from the field and a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line. Can't Let BU Shoot Like Last Time If Maine is to avenge the loss to Boston University from earlier this season, the Black Bears will need to do a better job defending shots. Back on Jan. 29, the Terriers knocked down 48 percent of their shots (30-of-63), while limiting Maine to just 17-of-48 shooting from the field (35 percent). Karlsson With BU Ties Maine associate head coach Kathy Karlsson was an assistant on the BU staff from 1997-99. Balanced Scoring On Both Sides Both Maine and Boston University feature four players who are averaging at least 9.0 points per game this season. Maine-Vermont Tied For Seventh In America East Heading Into Final Week
Maine and Vermont head into the final week of regular season competition tied for seventh in America East with identical 4-10 records. In case of a tie, Vermont owns the tiebreaker by sweeping the Black Bears in a pair of games this season.
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