Maine next for women's basketball

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University women's basketball team travels to Bangor on Tuesday to take on the University of Maine Black Bears. The game will be played at the Cross Insurance Center with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

THE PARTICULARS
Opponent: Maine
Game Time: Tuesday, Nov. 14 – 7 p.m.
Watch Live: ESPN3
Live Stats: GoBlackBears.com
Game Notes: Bryant | Maine

SCOUTING THE MAINE BLACK BEARS
On the season, Maine enters Tuesday's game with a 1-1 record. The Black Bears fell to Tulane to open the season, 42-34, and then topped Harvard a day later, 76-51.

Blanca Millan leads Maine in scoring on the young season, averaging 16.5 points per game on 67% shooting from the floor. She is also averaging five rebounds per game.

Tanesha Sutton is also averaging double figures for the Black Bears, having averaged 10 points throughout the opening two games.

Maine is coached by Amy Vachon, who is filling in for Richard Barron during his leave of absence. Vachon has been a part of the Black Bears coaching staff since the 2011-12 season and was named the Associate Head Coach before being named Interim Head Coach in April of last year. Vachon was also a Black Bear during her playing days.

SERIES HISTORY vs. MAINE
Tuesday marks the eighth game in the Maine/Bryant record book, with the Black Bears hosting a 4-3 advantage. Maine has won the last two games in the series.

MEET THE NEWCOMERS

The Bryant University women's basketball team welcomes five new faces to the team this season. Mary Besselink (Kingston, Ont.) and Kan­dis Taylor (Sunrise, Fla.) are new guards for Mary Burke's squad this year, while Hannah Scanlan (Rumson, N.J.) and Julia Kelner (Fayetteville, N.Y.) will see time at the forward po­sition. Brooke Bjelko (Plattsburgh, N.Y.) comes to the Bulldogs as a center.

BUDDING STAR

After a breakout season in 2016-17, Naomi Ashley (Hamilton, Ont.) has been a force for the Bryant Bulldogs through the early stages of the season. Ashley was a rebound shy of a double-double against Boston College, going for 12 points and nine rebounds. In the team's second game, Ashley scored eight points and pulled down six boards off the glass, also coming away with three steals.

NOTHING CAN STOP ME, I'M HOLLOWAY UP

Sophomore wing Sydney Holloway (Morgantown, W. Va.) was named to the NEC All-Rookie team last season after an impressive first-year campaign. Holloway had averages of 8.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.0 steals per game last season. Holloway's best performance came at Sacred Heart, when she went for 21 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, had four steals and two blocks, all career-highs.

Holloway started up right where she left off at Brown, where she led Bryant with 19 points and nine re­bounds.

DROPPING DIMES

Kierra Palmer (Aberdeen, Md.) led the NEC in assists last season, totaling 155 on the season (4.8/game). Palmer had double-digit assists in three contests in the 2016-17 season, including a Division I program record of 14 against Saint Francis U on Feb. 18. Palmer also scored 12 points that game, earning the first double-double of her career.

SHARPSHOOTER

Junior Haley Connors (West Hartford, Conn.) was third in the NEC last season in 3-point field goal percentage. Connors was 39.9% from long range last season, behind only Robert Morris' Megan Smith (46.5%) and Sacred Heart's Shelby Hickey (40%). In the NEC Semifinal win over SHU, Connors was 5-5 from downtown and finished the game with 17 points, which tied a career high.

EVERSON NAMED CAPTAIN

Bryant senior Kathleen Everson (Farmingville, N.Y.) was named a captain ahead of the 2017-18 season by head coach Mary Burke. Everson, a forward from Farmingville, New York, scored a career-high seven points vs. St. Francis Brooklyn last season.

NEXT UP: NEW HAMPSHIRE
The Bulldogs will host New Hampshire in Bryant's first home game of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 21. Tip-off will be at 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed for free via NEC Front Row.