ORONO – While the football team moves into the home stretch of its season and the field hockey and women’s soccer teams prepare for America East postseason play, the University of Maine’s basketball teams have begun preparations for the 2004-05 season.

Black Bear basketball fans can catch their first glimpse of Sharon Versyp’s UMaine women and the men’s squad coached by Ted Woodward during tonight’s annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmages.

The women take the court at Alfond Arena at 7:30, with the men scheduled to follow at 8:30. Admission is free for all fans and UMaine students.

The women will open the evening with a 20-minute scrimmage. After the 10-minute first half, team members will join two randomly selected fans for a skills competition.

After the scrimmage, four women’s players will compete in a 3-point shootout.

The men’s team will open its portion of the show with a slam-dunk contest, then will play a 20-minute scrimmage. At halftime, four players will square off in a 3-point shooting contest.

The UMaine women are approaching the preseason with a greater sense of urgency as they are scheduled to take on top-ranked Louisiana State Nov. 12 in Baton Rouge, La.

“Everyone knows that we’re supposed to be learning right now, but at the same time we need to be at a high caliber of play in two weeks,” said senior point guard Kim Corbitt. “Everything’s accelerated a little bit, so you’ve got to focus on trying to do the little things right now because we’re going to be playing one of the best teams in the country in two weeks.”

The women’s squad features a mix of experience and youth, having lost five veterans while adding four newcomers.

Senior guards Corbitt and Missy Traversi, along with senior forward Monica Peterson and junior post player Abby Schrader, headline Versyp’s team. UMaine is coming off an America East championship and a berth in the NCAA Tournament.

“We’re really young, so we’ll just kind of see if we can knock a few shots down, play a little defense,” Versyp said.

Woodward, a former assistant coach who was hired when John Giannini took the job at La Salle University (Pa.), inherits a talented, veteran ballclub.

Junior guard Kevin Reed, senior guard Chris Markwood of South Portland and senior forwards Joe Campbell of Bangor and Mark Flavin are joined by UNLV transfer Ernest Turner, a junior guard, and Jermaine Jackson, a senior swing player, on a squad that expects to challenge for the AE title after finishing as the league runner-up last season.

Bears Trick or Treat at Mall

Area youngsters are invited to Trick or Treat with members of the University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams from 4-5 p.m. Halloween night at the Bangor Mall.

Team members will hand out candy and schedule cards at center court of the mall to help kick off their 2004-05 seasons.

UMaine also will hand out 400 basketball game tickets and Bananas the Bear will be on hand for the event.