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Maine Ready for America East Tournament
March 9, 2005 SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS The Black Bears enter the 2005 America East tournament unbeaten in their last 13 games. Maine will play Boston University (12-15, 7-11 AE) as the top seed with a 16-2 America East conference record. The Black Bears are the America East tournament defending champions and are 33-3 the past two years in conference play and 54-4 the past three years including playoffs.. The Black Bears (20-8, 16-2 AE) defeated UMBC, 63-55 in their home season finale. Senior guard Missy Traversi (Attleboro, Mass.) led the Black Bears with 19 points with sophomore Bracey Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine) chipping in 15 points. Maine leads the America East in five statistical categories; scoring margin (+11.0 ), field goal percentage (.460), 3-point field goal percentage (.433), free-throw percentage (.744), and assist/turnover ratio (1.03). Traversi (13.6 ppg) and Barker (12.1 ppg) lead the Black Bears in scoring. Sophomore guard Ashley Underwood (Augusta, Maine) has come off the bench the last two outings and hit four 3-pointers. Underwood averages 8.1 points per game, but has scored in double-figures in her last three games. Head Coach Sharon Versyp, 2005 America East Coach of the Year, has guided the Black Bears to three consecutive 20+ win seasons, three consecutive America East regular season titles and the 2004 America East championship. Under Versyp, Maine is 5-3 in America East post-season play, with an appearance in the WNIT and NCAA tournament. BOSTON UNIVERSITY / MAINE SERIES: Maine leads series 37-18 Last Meeting: 2/28/05, a 59-56 Maine win at Alfond Arena Streak: Maine has won last 3 meetings including 2004 America East Championship, 68-43 Last Maine Loss: 2003 America East Championship Game: BU 69-65 Maine and BU in Postseason: Maine holds a 5-3 overall record against the Terriers. Maine and BU have met four times in the championship game, each winning two. BU NOTES Maine swept the season series between the two schools...Maine won at Boston, 73-55 on Feb. 2...Senior Kim Corbitt (Albany, N.Y.) led Maine with 21 second half points in the victory...Three Black Bears scored in double figures in the win... The Black Bears were led by seniors Missy Traversi(Attleboro, Mass.), who added 17 points, three assists, one block and two steals, and Monica Peterson (Wilmington, Del.), who recorded a double-double with 15 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, one block, and four assists....Maine won the second game of the series, 59-56 at Alfond Arena...Despite being outrebounded and hitting less than 50% from the free throw line, Maine managed to pull out a three-point victory... Super sophomore Bracey Barker (Bar Harbor, Maine) led the Black Bear attack with 19 points and eight rebounds with senior guard Missy Traversi (Attleboro, Mass.) chipping in 13 points and junior forward Abby Schrader (Pt. Pleasant, N.J.) adding 10 points and eight rebounds. The Terriers were led by Adrienne Norris who had a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Larissa Parr who had 11 points and Becky Bonner who added 10 points including two three-pointers...Maine finished the game 52.1% (25-58) from the floor and 46.7% (7-15) from the free throw line. The Terriers hit 20-64 (31.3%) from the floor and 80% (12-15) from the line. The Terriers outrebounded Maine 40-34. SCOUTING THE TERRIERS Boston University Terriers enters the Americ East tournament seeded no. 8 with a 7-11 conference record and a 12-15 overall record. Boston University split their final two games falling to Albany, 70-57 and winning their season finale, 77-67 over New Hampshire. Rachael Vanderwal leads the Terriers in scoring averaging 11.5 points per game with Adrienne Norris averaging 10.7 ppg and 8.3 rebounds per game. The team is coached by Kelly Greenberg who is in her first season as head coach at Boston University. The 2005 Friendship Cottage Cheese America East Women's Basketball Tournament begins with first round play on Wednesday, March 9 with quarter-finals on Thursday, semi-finals on Friday and the championship game on Saturday, March 12 at Chase Arena at the Reich Family Pavillion in Hartford, Connecticut. Maine's quarter-final game begins at 2:30pm. For live radio coverage of all Maine women's basketball tournament games, tune to the voice of the Black Bears, Jeff Solari, on the "SportsZone," WZON-AM 620 or www.zoneradio.com. For more information go to www.GoBlackBears.com. Complete Release in PDF Format
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