University of Maine women ‘s basketball junior forward Kaliyah Sain is a long way from home.
It is 1,449 miles from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Orono.
“This is the first time I’ve ever been east,” said the junior college transfer from Kirkwood Community College in her hometown.
Sain has adapted nicely to her new home and new environment.
Through UMaine’s first four games, she is second on the team in rebounding and third in scoring.
She is averaging 6.8 rebounds and 11 points per contest.
She had a double-double in an 81-77 loss at Virginia Commonwealth, and was the game’s leading scorer and rebounder with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
The six-foot Sain has a total of seven assists, four steals and a blocked shot.
She had a solid all-around game in Monday night’s 79-53 win over Stonehill College with six points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in just under 19 minutes of playing time.
“She has been great,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon. “Offensively, she can do a lot of things. Defensively, I think she can do a lot. She is a great rebounder, she’s long and she’s a great teammate.
“She’s awesome,” added Vachon.
Sain has been happy with the start of her UMaine career but was quick to point out that there is “always room for improvement.”
She began her college career at Division I Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri two years ago. As a freshman, she appeared in 21 games and averaged 7.3 minutes of playing time per game. She averaged 1.8 points and 1.3 rebounds.
“It was awesome to get that first win,” Sain said Monday night after helping the Black Bears get that initial victory of the season.
After her freshman year at Lindenwood, Sain transferred to Kirkwood Community College where she was a National Junior College Athletic Association first team All-American. She averaged 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists and shot 46.8 percent from the floor.
At John F. Kennedy High School in Cedar Rapids, Sain averaged 21 points and eight rebounds per game and was named All-Metro First Team three times, MVC Valley First Team three times, and was a two-time All-State Second Team selection.
For her Team Iowa club team, she averaged 15 points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
Vachon said Kirkwood has one of the best junior college basketball programs in the country and credited assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Tom Biskup for discovering Sain.
“He started talking with her and we really liked what we saw from her on film,” Vachon said. “She came for a visit with her dad and she committed to us. We were really excited about it.”
Sain said Biskup reached out to her after the last season at Kirkwood ended.
“I thought this would be fun, Maine. This would be cool,” Sain said. “I went on my visit and I loved what they had here.”
Sain said the thing that sold her the most was UMaine’s nursing school, which she credited for being a strong program.
“A lot of schools wouldn’t work with me for nursing school because it is so demanding. Maine told me right away that they would work with me,” Sain said. “So I’m able to get school paid for and get a great education. That’s really important to me.”
Vachon said Annie Smith, the UMaine nursing program’s evaluation and quality coordinator, did an “amazing” job working with Sain.
Sain said her experiences at Kirkwood and Lindenwood prepared her well for coming to UMaine.
“[Junior college] is still pretty competitive, so I didn’t think it was that big of a jump. And I already had Division I experience from my freshman year, so I knew what I was coming into,” Sain said. “There’s a lot of good basketball here.”
She is enjoying her time in Maine.
“I feel like there is a lot of sightseeing here, which is awesome,” said Sain, who is enjoying being around her teammates. “They show me around.”
Senior guard Sarah Talon said Sain has “come up really big for us” to start the year.
“She can hit the shot, she can get rebounds as well,” Talon said. “She has been huge for us.”
The 1-3 Black Bears will return to action on Sunday when they visit Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island at noon.
