Once every year or so, the University of Maine women’s basketball team gives up its home-court advantage at Alfond Arena in Orono and plays a home game away from home.

That is the case today when coach Sharon Versyp’s Black Bears travel to Portland for an America East game against Albany.

Tipoff is 2 p.m. at the Cumberland County Civic Center, a venue that has been the site of 14 games during the 30-year history of the UMaine women’s program.

Maine takes a 6-7 overall record and a 2-1 conference mark into the contest against Albany (6-6, 1-2 AE). The Bears are 7-0 in the all-time series against the Great Danes, including a 62-49 victory in the America East semifinals last March.

Playing in Portland, which is within 50 miles of two-thirds of Maine’s total population, serves as a goodwill offering to alumni and fans in the area who might not otherwise make the trip to Orono to watch the Bears play.

UMaine holds a 12-2 all-time record at the Civic Center, where they first played in 1981 as part of the State Tournament against the likes of Bates, Southern Maine and Husson.

The last time the Bears played in Portland – Jan. 11, 2003 – they earned a 92-62 victory over Yale.

As part of the effort, UMaine’s players and coaches will conduct an autograph session after today’s game on the concourse level of the Civic Center.

While the home-away-from-home aspect may be a slight inconvenience in terms of the Bears’ unfamiliarity with the court and the surroundings, Versyp likely has more important basketball-related issues on her mind.

The Bears, who for the last two seasons have led the conference in field-goal-percentage defense, have allowed opponents to shoot nearly 43 percent from the field this season.

They also rank last in America East in defending the 3-point shot, with opponents connecting 40 percent of the time.

Meanwhile, UMaine has been inconsistent offensively this season despite averaging 69 points per game on 48 percent field-goal shooting in its first three league games.

The Bears have emerged as the nation’s eight-ranked team in free-throw shooting at .769.

They have done a good job taking care of the basketball, committing only 13.7 turnovers per contest, which ranks seventh in the country.