UM’s organized experiment tonight

The University of Maine women’s basketball team begins gearing up for what promises to be an exciting season tonight when Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie’s Black Bears play their annual Blue-White intrasquad game.

Tipoff time is 7:30 p.m. at Alfond Arena in Orono. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for students.

Wednesday night’s contest could be characterized as an organized experiment according to Palombo, who has designed the evening to mix and match different combinations of players to find out how they perform together. The game will actually consist of four 10-minute segments which will be scored separately.

“Each period can be used for time and score situations. This way, the players will have four chances to be at the end of a game,” said Palombo, who is feeling well a week after taking a week off from her duties to recover from exhaustion.

At the outset, sophomore Cindy Blodgett will head the Blue team, which includes off-guard Stacia Rustad, small forward Sandi Carver, power forward Steph Guidi and center Stacey Porrini. They’ll be opposed by a White unit made up of guards Kelly Stubbs and Trisha Ripton, freshman forwards Klara Danes and Andrea Clark, and center Catherine Gallant.

“I’m looking to see the depth of our defense and how it comes together as a team,” Palombo said. “Offensively, I want to look at combinations of people and how they work together.”

However, players will be swapped between teams and change jersey colors in subsequent quarters.

Assistant coaches Sarah Mannes and Jody Benner will coach the Blue and White squads, respectively. Palombo will be offering advice to both as the night progresses, but she plans to allow them to make many of their own decisions in key situations.

Palombo is encouraged by what she has seen from her team thus far.

“I’ve been pleased with the growth of the veterans and impressed with the freshmen,” she said.

The Colby College women’s soccer team is seeded No. 2 and will entertain seventh-seeded Gordon College of Wenham, Mass., today in the first round of the ECAC Division III playoffs. Game time is 2 p.m.

The White Mules last appeared in the ECAC playoffs in 1984. Colby, 8-3-3, played to a 2-2 tie against Gordon earlier in the season despite holding a 33-6 advantage in shots.

This Colby team has set school marks for shutouts (7), goals (40) and fewest goals allowed (11).

Laura Smith of Winterport became the first freshman to win the Little East Conference cross country championship when she posted a 23-second victory while running for the University of Southern Maine.

Smith, a 1995 graduate of Hampden Academy, and teammate Michelle Grenier of Waterville, who placed fourth, earned All-Little East honors with their performances.

The Huskies host the NCAA Division III Cross Country New England Regional Championship Nov. 11 at the Gorham Country Club.

The Husson College women’s basketball team is sponsoring a youth clinic and a charity game this weekend at Newman Gymnasium in Bangor.

Coach Kissy Walker’s Braves are offering a preseason clinic Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The session, which is open to boys and girls in grades 5-8, costs $5. It will stress the fundamentals of the game.

On Sunday, the Husson women play the Bangor Police Department in a 7 p.m. benefit contest dedicated to the late Edward Gott, a former Husson assistant coach.

Proceeds go to the American Cancer Society and the Children’s Miracle Network to aid Arian Haghkerdar’s bone marrow transplant.