Making the transition from high school to college can be difficult, especially for student-athletes.

Apparently, that hasn’t been the case for Sarah Marquez of Orono.

Marquez, an All-Maine second-team selection for the Red Riots last season, has made the jump to the college level quite successfully. The freshman at Drew University in Madison, N.J., has emerged as the leading scorer on the women’s basketball team.

The 5-foot-9 guard connected for 25 points Tuesday night to lead the Rangers to a 70-68 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson University- Madison. Marquez played 33 minutes, contributing nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.

She made four of eight 3-point attempts in the contest.

Marquez, who was the Penobscot Valley Conference Player of the Year last winter, quickly worked her way into the starting lineup at Division III Drew. She leads the team in scoring with 14.7 points per game and also boasts a team-high 40 assists (3.1 per game).

Marquez ranks second among the Rangers, averaging 25.4 minutes per game, and boasts a team-leading .389 3-point percentage (28-for-72). She also has provided 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per outing for coach Linda Yost.

Her best output of the season was a 26-point performance in a Jan. 6 loss at Union (N.Y.). The nine rebounds in Tuesday’s game represent her best effort to date.

While Marquez was one of seven players recruited this season by Yost, she has been the most successful by far. Classmate Angela DiFazio, a 5-11 center, has provided 5.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 12 games, while frosh Jen Weldon, a 6-1 forward, has appeared in all 13 games coming off the bench and is averaging 4.5 points and 3.7 rebounds.

Drew competes in the Freedom League, which is part of the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation. League opponents include Delaware Valley, FDU-Madison and Pennsylvania schools DeSales, King’s, Lycoming, Scranton and Wilkes colleges.

Marquez is coming off an outstanding senior season at Orono High, where she averaged 19.0 points, 6.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists.

UMaine baseball gains pitcher

While it might seem hard to think about baseball after back-to-back snowstorms blanketed eastern Maine, UMaine coach Paul Kostacopoulos is gearing up to start practicing again next week.

The Black Bears have bolstered their pitching staff with the addition of Paul Bruder. The 5-foot-10 righthander will join the team when the second semester begins Monday.

Bruder, who hails from the Toronto area, was a member of Team Ontario’s 18-year-old squad last season.

“He can pitch at 86-87 [mph] and he’s got a good breaking ball,” Kostacopoulos said.

Bruder will have plenty of catching up to do, as the rest of the Bears worked out together in the fall, but he is a welcome addition.

“It’s going to be very difficult for him to catch up on the things that we’ve already done,” Kostacopoulos said. “The positive side is, we need him.”

Kostacopoulos is trying to retool a pitching staff that lost seniors Matt Truman, Simon Stoner, Kris Ehmke and Eric Johnson along with junior lefthander Rusty Tucker, who was signed by the San Diego Padres.

“Our pitching staff is so fragile,” Kostacopoulos said. “We only have three people – [Mike] Collar, [Mike] MacDonald and [Adam] Labelle – that pitched significant innings (last year).”

UMaine opens its season March 9 with a doubleheader at Maryland-Eastern Shore.

Bates athletes set school marks

Diver Andrew Hastings and shot-putter Liz Wanless of Bates College in Lewiston established school records Saturday in their respective specialties.

Hastings, a senior from Weston, Mass., set a Bates standard with 320.86 points while winning the 3-meter diving competition at Babson College. It surpassed his own previous mark of 292.75 set last season.

Hastings, who also won the one-meter diving, qualified for the NCAA championships with his effort on the three-meter board. He previously had qualified in the one-meter competition.

Hastings has earned six All-America honors, the most by any athlete in Bates history.

Wanless, a sophomore from Belleville, Ill., shattered her own school shot put record with a heave of 42 feet, 11 inches at the University of Southern Maine Invitational.

Her previous best, set last season, was 40-11. Wanless’ effort qualified her provisionally for the NCAA championships.