Defense, turnovers plague Bears Maine faces tough five-week, eight-game stretch on the road

There is no secret why the UMaine women have struggled this season.

The Bears have not played well enough on defense and have committed too many turnovers.

UMaine has allowed an average of 71.2 points per game, the most among the nine America East teams, while letting opponents shoot almost 44 percent from the field against it.

Opponents have shot 35 percent from 3-point range against the Bears.

“Generally, you make a run because you get stops on defense and then you score,” Blodgett said. “What we’re doing is we’re letting our offense dictate our runs.”

UMaine also has been prone to turnovers, racking up 23.8 per outing, almost eight more than its opponents.

On a positive note, the Bears rank second in AE free-throw percentage (.792) and are third in rebounding margin (plus-2.4) and assists (14.6 per game).

UMaine women to head on road

The UMaine women’s basketball team continues to endure its share of struggles early in the 2007-08 season.

Coach Cindy Blodgett’s squad is 1-4 coming off back-to-back losses to Harvard and Quinnipiac, respectively, in the Dead River Co. Classic.

The Bears will now spend the next five-plus weeks on the road playing a tough stretch of eight nonconference games.

“We really need to buckle down and get ready for these road trips because we’ve had some losses and we need to learn our lessons from these games and get ready for the games that are coming up,” said sophomore co-captain Brittany Boser.

UMaine heads to Virginia for a Thursday night meeting with William & Mary, then visits Connecticut on Sunday to take on Fairfield. The Bears then play Dec. 14 and 16 at St. John’s and St. Francis in New York and face Boston College Dec. 22 before closing out 2007 at the Miami holiday tournament, facing the host Hurricanes Dec. 29 and either Toledo or Central Arkansas on Dec. 30.

“I prefer home games myself. I’d much rather play in front of our home crowd,” Blodgett said when asked whether being on the road trips might help UMaine gel.

The Bears return to Alfond Arena Jan. 5 for their America East opener against defending league champion Maryland Baltimore County.

Women’s hockey lists recruits

Three Canadian players and a goaltender from New Hampshire make up the recruiting class landed by University of Maine women’s hockey coach Dan Lichterman.

Dawn Sullivan of Enfield, Nova Scotia, Dominique Goutsis of Coquitlam, British Columbia, Melissa Gagnon of St. Gilles, Quebec, and Candice Currier of Goffstown, N.H., have signed National Letters of Intent to attend UMaine beginning next fall.

“This freshman class adds great depth to our 2008-09 team,” Lichterman said. “They are good hockey players and great character kids. They are great students as well and I’m looking forward to their impact in the next four years.”

Sullivan, a forward at the Berkshire School, was the captain for Team Nova Scotia in the 2007 Canada Games.

“Dawn is a solid two-way forward,” Lichterman said. “She shoots and moves the puck well.”

Goutsis is a forward who played for Pacific Steelers club team, which also produced Black Bears defenseman Elyce Thomas.

“Dominique is a quick little forward,” Lichterman said. “She’s very agile and provides lots of energy up front.”

Gagnon is a defenseman who won four provincial titles with Dawson College and earned a silver medal with Team Quebec at the Canadian Championships. She was named to the Canadian Collegiate All-Star Team last season.

“Melissa adds great depth to our defensive corps,” Lichterman said. “She has great vision and moves the puck well offensively.”

Currier is a 5-foot-10 goaltender who has played the last four seasons at the North American Hockey Academy. She was the team defensive player of the year last season, posting a 27-6-3 record with a 1.97 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage.

“Candice is very athletic,” Lichterman said. “She’s a great competitor and is very passionate about the game.”