ORONO – With only one game under its proverbial belt, the University of Maine women’s basketball team has tremendous potential for improvement during the 2000-2001 season.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s Black Bears hope to continue making strides Friday and Saturday during the eighth Dead River Company Classic at Alfond Arena. UMaine welcomes in first-round opponent Central Michigan, along with Southeastern Conference challenger Florida and Ivy League power Harvard for the two-day event.

UMaine plays Central Michigan tonight at 7 p.m. Florida and Harvard open the event at 4:30.

The four teams were scheduled to gather Thursday night at the Black Bear Inn in Orono for the tournament banquet. Several UMaine players got together earlier in the day with family members who have traveled here to take in the tournament.

UMaine, which opened the season Sunday with a 66-51 victory over Fordham, is looking for improved defensive intensity and a more polished offensive effort in the tournament.

“We’ve mainly focused ourselves on getting better,” said Versyp, who became the first UMaine women’s basketball coach to debut with a victory. “After we played Sunday, we got back to work on Monday to fix the things we were struggling with.”

The Bears were fortunate to practice twice Wednesday in the Alfond, and had another session planned for Thursday. The exposure to the setting is important because of the limited practice time the team has there.

Another of the challenges facing UMaine and the other teams during the Dead River tourney is playing on consecutive nights.

“We played Sunday and came back and practiced Monday to kind of get the kids prepared for playing in that situation,” Versyp said. “It will be good to play back-to-back.

UMaine is gearing up for a tough stretch during which the Bears will play six games in 16 days, including four of those on the road.

Versyp wants her team to be more aggressive on the offensive end without becoming sloppy. UMaine struggled at times by overhandling the ball instead of passing against Fordham, which resulted in several second-half turnovers.

The Bears must pick their spots against the Chippewas, who seem to enjoy an uptempo game and likely will throw different defensive looks at UMaine.

Balance is likely to be one of the keys for the Bears, who had seven individuals play 20 minutes or more in the opener, though none logged more than 30 minutes. Two others played at least 10 minutes.

The Bears have won their own tournament only once in seven tries. SEC teams Mississippi and Georgia have taken the title in the last two years, with both contests going into overtime.

Ernest’s debut among top efforts

Heather Ernest burst onto the UMaine scene last Sunday with an impressive 17-point, 10-rebound performance against Fordham.

The 17 points were the most scored by a debuting first-year player since phenom Cindy Blodgett of Clinton scored 17 in her first collegiate game against Mercer in 1994. It also was the first double-double by a freshman in recent memory.

Holmberg earns NESCAC honor

Molly Holmberg of Middlebury College (Vt.) is one of five women selected for the New England Small College Athletic Conference Fall All-Academic Team.

Holmberg, a senior from Orono, competed on the Panthers’ women’s soccer team.

The honorees must have been a starter or key reserve on a varsity team and must have achieved a grade point average of at least 3.35 on a 4.0 scale.