UMaine women open season against UMass

The University of Maine women’s basketball team will ride the wave of last season’s success right into the new season next week when it hosts a first-round game in the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie’s Black Bears, by virtue of the program’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its success at the ticket booth, have earned the right to participate in the event.

Maine plays Massachusetts in a PWNIT first-round game Nov. 15 at Alfond Arena in Orono.

There are seven teams in the 16-team field that participated in the 1995 NCAA Tournament, including Colorado, which made it to the national quarterfinals. Other notable entries include Duke, Arkansas, Memphis and Utah.

Triple Crown Sports of Fort Collins, Colo., is the organizer of the the Preseason WNIT, which was held last year for the first time. The tournament field is selected based on teams’ success on the court and their ability to attract sizeable crowds, according to Melissa Raber of Triple Crown Sports.

“A lot of this tournament is based on revenues,” said Raber, who explained that Triple Crown Sports reimburses the schools for travel and per diem expenses incurred during the tournament.

“The host sites were selected because they do have a good attendance tracking record, or would have good success with a tournament like this,” Raber said. “It also depends on the teams’ past success, whether it’s a veteran team, and how its prospects for the upcoming season look.”

Maine was among the teams that submitted bids for the PWNIT late last season. The Black Bears attracted 3,598 fans per home contest and ranked 19th in Division I in average attendance.

Raber said the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament is not affiliated with the Women’s National Invitation Tournament held during the postseason in Amarillo, Texas.

If Maine wins, it would play the winner of another first-round game between Ohio State and Pittsburgh. If Ohio State is victorious, the second-round contest on Nov. 17 would likely be held in Columbus, since Ohio State ranked No. 6 in the country with 6,322 fans per game.

Game sites for subsequent rounds also are awarded based on prospects for attracting big crowds. The Nov. 19 semifinals and the PWNIT title game on Nov. 21 will be televised by the Prime Network.

WABI-TV (Ch. 5) in Bangor has the local TV rights to Maine’s first- and second-round games.

Raber said a team may play in the tournament only once every four years, so this is Maine’s only shot until 1999. Triple Crown Sports hopes to cash in on the growing interest in women’s basketball.

“There’s a major demand for women’s basketball right now,” Raber said. “That’s the reason we created the tournament.”

Last year, the inaugural Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament attracted more than 55,000 spectators to its 15 games, an average of 3,667 spectators per contest. The University of Washington beat then-defending national champion Texas Tech in the 1994 championship game.

The University of Maine-Presque Isle men’s and women’s cross country teams earned second-place finishes in Sunday’s NAIA Regional at Lyndonville, Vt., where five Owls earned the right to run in the NAIA nationals.

Coach Chris Smith’s men narrowly missed winning the regional team title, finishing two points behind champion Johnson State College of Johnston, Vt. The UMPI women also placed second, trailing titlist Georgian Court College of Lakewood, N.J., by 21 points.

Sara Richard and Marcus Worster earned individual crowns, winning their respective races. Richard, a sophomore from Presque Isle, covered the women’s course in 20 minutes, 50 seconds. Worster took men’s honors with a 29:27 clocking.

Richard and Worster were among five UMPI runners to qualify as individuals for the Nov. 18 national meet at Kenosha, Wis. Katherine Chabot of UMPI placed second in the women’s event, while Greg Lavertu was second in the men’s race. UMPI’s Alfred Hanscom wound up fifth.