MAINE vs. MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY

Time, site: Wednesday, 7 p.m.; RAC Arena, Baltimore, Md.

Records: Maine 8-8 (4-2 America East), UMBC 7-8 (2-4)

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 2-0, Maine 61-35 on 2/22/04

Key players: Maine – 5-7 G Missy Traversi (12.5 ppg, 2.6 apg, .400 3-pt. pct., .791 FT pct.), 6-1 F Bracey Barker (10.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.9 spg, .797 FT pct.), 6-0 F Monica Peterson (9.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, .471 FG pct.), 5-7 G Kim Corbitt (9.1 ppg, 4.1 apg, .548 FG pct.), 5-9 G Ashley Underwood (7.6 ppg, .912 FT pct.), 6-3 C Abby Schrader (6.0 ppg, 4.6 rpg); UMBC – 6-1 G Matea Pender (15.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, .478 FG pct., .569 3-pt. pct.), 5-7 G Britnie Hughes (9.5 ppg, 3.7 apg), Shari Rohde (8.3 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 3.4 apg, .505 FG pct.), Heather Luttrell (6.5 ppg, Morgan Hatten (4.6 ppg)

Outlook: The Bears seek back-to-back league wins after edging Northeastern on Saturday. UMBC, which owns a win over Boston U., was victorious at Binghamton. Maine’s challenge is defending the Retrievers’ deliberate Princeton offense, which manufactures many open shots. These teams are tied for the league FG pct. lead at .419. Maine may be able to exploit its inside attack against a smaller UMBC team, the league’s worst rebounding squad. The Bears look to uncork their transition attack in the hope of building an early lead that would force the Retrievers out of their preferred tempo. Pender, the nation’s best 3-point shooter, requires defensive attention. UMBC attempts 19 3’s per game.