America East quarterfinals

No. 1 MAINE vs. No. 8 HARTFORD

Time, site: Thursday, 6:05 p.m.; Chase Arena, West Hartford, Conn.

Records: Maine 23-4 (16-0 America East); Hartford 7-20 (5-11)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 31-7; Maine won 68-63 on 3/1/03

Key players: Maine – 6-1 F Heather Ernest (19.8 ppg, 9.8 rpg, .541 FG pct., .826 FT pct.), 5-9 G Melissa Heon (11.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.9 spg), 5-7 G Kim Corbitt (6.0 ppg, 4.6 apg, 1.8 spg), 6-1 G/F Julie Veilleux (8.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg), 5-11 F Monica Peterson (6.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg), 5-7 G Missy Traversi (6.2 ppg, 2.3 apg); Hartford – 5-7 G Angie Pezzetta (10.1 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 3.5 apg), 5-9 G Liz Stich (9.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg), 5-9 G Erika Messam (9.1 ppg), 5-8 G Dorcas Miller (7.0 ppg), 6-0 F Anne Whalen (6.5 ppg)

Outlook: The Bears begin in earnest their quest for an NCAA tourney berth against the defending conference champion Hawks. UMaine, which has won 19 straight, has a decided advantage inside with Ernest, who scored a career-high 34 in the last meeting. The Bears will pound the ball inside and try to get to the foul line often. Defensively, UMaine must contend with a speedy, balanced Hartford team that breaks the game down to one-on-one matchups. The Bears need to get over the top of screens and keep the Hawks from getting open looks, especially momentum-building 3-pointers. UMaine, AE’s top rebounding team, looks to dominate the boards against Hartford, which ranks last. A big key for the Bears is maintaining their defensive intensity and limiting the Hawks’ scoring runs to keep the home crowd from becoming a factor.