UMaine women's basketball gains extra home game against UMBC
Jan. 24—The University of Maine Black Bears have regained a women's basketball home game.
The University of Maine women's basketball team lost a home game off their schedule earlier this month when it was unable to travel to Binghamton (New York) due to COVID-19 cases within the Black Bear program.
America East decided to reschedule the game on the same weekend UMaine was scheduled to host Binghamton but, instead, is sending UMaine to Binghamton to play a pair of games in three days on Feb. 4 and Feb. 6.
The league has followed that same scheduling ideology in sending the University of Maryland Baltimore County to Maine for a pair of games on Feb. 26-27.
UMaine was supposed to go to UMBC for a game this past Saturday but COVID-19 cases at UMBC forced the postponement of the game, along with UMBC's contest at Binghamton on Monday.
UMaine will now host UMBC on Saturday, Feb. 26 at the Memorial Gym in Orono and then play the Retrievers the next afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The time of the Feb. 26 game has yet to be determined.
By sending UMBC to Maine, America East will minimize travel.
There are 548 miles between Orono and Vestal, New York, where Binghamton plays its home games. It is 636 miles between Orono and Baltimore.
That will make for a busy stretch of three games in five days for both teams.
UMaine is scheduled to travel to Albany for a game on Wednesday, Feb. 23, while UMBC is slated to host Hartford the same day.
That weekend will be the final weekend of the regular season.
The playoffs will begin with the quarterfinals on the following Wednesday, March 2. The semifinals will be Sunday, March 6, and the championship game will be Friday, March 11.
All games will be played at the home court of the higher seeded team.
The struggling Black Bears, just 2-3 in their last five games including a first-ever home loss to UMass Lowell 60-55 last Wednesday, will play at New Hampshire on Wednesday at 4 p.m. before hosting Vermont on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center.
UMaine is 6-10 overall and 3-3 in the conference.
UNH is 4-13 and 1-5, respectively, but lost by just three (57-54) at UMass Lowell this past weekend. UNH has lost 11 of its last 12 games.
UMaine beat UNH at the Cross Insurance Center 77-51 on Jan. 13.
Vermont is 11-7 and 5-2 and will host league leader Stony Brook (15-2, 6-1) on Wednesday. The Catamounts will take a four-game winning streak into its game with the defending America East Tournament champion Seawolves.
UMaine rallied to beat Vermont 64-58 on Dec. 30.
