The University of Maine women’s basketball team has 12 consecutive wins over the University of New Hampshire and is 21-1 vs. the Wildcats in their last 22 meetings.
But that winning streak was in serious jeopardy a week and a half ago when UNH was holding a 54-45 lead with 8:49 left in regulation on the Skip Chappelle Court at the Memorial Gym in Orono.
UMaine managed to rally for a 67-61 win and will be taking on the Wildcats in Thursday’s 6 p.m. America East quarterfinal at the Memorial Gym.
The second-seeded Black Bears are 17-12 overall and wound up 12-4 in the conference while UNH is 10-19 and 4-12.
UMaine has won three in a row and seven of eight, but six of those seven wins have been by nine points or less including a pair of one-point victories.
UNH enters the game with back-to-back home wins over Binghamton and Albany after losing the previous six with four of those being by eight points or less.
Coach Megan Shoniker’s Wildcats are led by All-America East second team junior guard Eva DeChent.
“UNH is playing their best basketball of the season, for sure,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon. “DeChent is really good. We’re going to have to limit her. Our transition defense is going to be really important for us as well.”
UMaine senior guard Sarah Talon called DeChent a great player.
“She is going to get her points but we’re going to have to make it hard for her,” Talon said about DeChent. “We’re going to have to show up and focus and do what we do well.”
New Hampshire played a “great game” recently at UMaine according to Black Bear fifth-year senior forward and America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith.
“It was a really competitive game and we came out on top because of our fight,” Smith said. “We’re going to need to put together 40 minutes of good basketball and play good defense.”
Smith comes into the game as the America East leader in scoring (22.2 points per game), rebounds (10.3) and assists (4.8). She has also averaged 1.7 steals. She is ninth in the country in scoring among players at 359 Division I schools.
She has 17 double-doubles which ties her for 12th in the nation.
She is the first player in America East, male or female, to register 1,000 points (1,804), 1,000 rebounds (1,010) and 400 assists (418).
In UMaine’s two wins over UNH this season, she has averaged 33.5 poins, 11.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2 steals.
All-America East third team guard senior Asta Blauenfeldt has averaged 11.7 points and 2 rebounds along with 1.7 steals and 1.6 assists. And freshman guard Lala Woods, who was selected to the All-Rookie team, is averaging 8.7 points and 2.4 rebounds.
Windham’s Talon has averaged 8.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals. Freshman guard Olivia Alvarez has produced 3.5 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest.
UNH’s DeChent is the conference’s third-leading scorer, averaging 17.8 points per game. She leads the Wildcats in rebounds (5.5), steals (1.9) and blocked shots with 21. She is second in assists (2.1).
DeChent had 26 points in the recent loss to UMaine.
Junior guard Maggie Cavanaugh is second in scoring (8.9 ppg), rebounding (4.8) and steals (1.5) and is the leader in assists (2.7). Sophomore guard Elizabeth Lavoie (7.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg), senior guard-forward Camryn Fauria (5.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg) and senior forward Lucia Melero Sabat (5.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg) have also been important contributors.
Blauenfeldt said they have been working on what they did wrong and were lacking in the last game against New Hampshire.
“They played very well. They made a lot of tough shots,” Blauenfeldt said about the Wildcats. “We need to get off to a better start and figure out how to stop their go-to players.”
