UM basketball teams open season with events

The University of Maine men’s and women’s basketball teams will get the 2007-08 season going with two free campus events tonight and Saturday night as part of the homecoming celebration.

Tonight, the Black Bears will conduct a “Hardwood Hoopla” workout for UMaine students in Memorial Gymnasium. The action begins at 10 p.m.

On Saturday, coach Cindy Blodgett’s UMaine women and the men’s squad coached by Ted Woodward will play controlled scrimmages at Alfond Arena.

That session, which will feature alternating 10-minute intrasquad scrimmage segments involving both teams, is scheduled to begin approximately 15 minutes after the conclusion of the UMaine-William & Mary football game, which kicks off at 3 p.m.

Woodward and Blodgett will address the crowd as part of the event, which marks the official start of in-season practices.