Ross adds power game to repertoire

Tanna Ross has spent her freshman season at the University of Maine serving primarily as a long-range scoring threat.

It appears the 5-foot-11 forward from Newburgh has even more to offer.

Ross matched her career highs with 22 points and eight rebounds in Wednesday night’s 82-77 women’s basketball victory over Boston University – playing in more of a power forward role.

Realizing her versatility, Black Bears coach Cindy Blodgett moved Ross inside against the Terriers, giving UMaine more options for today’s 1 p.m. game at Vermont – and beyond.

“We’ve been working with Tanna in practice pretty extensively,” Blodgett said. “She’s a tough matchup and I feel like at times Tanna will shoot 3s because she can shoot 3s, and it comes so easy to her.”

While Ross is still very much a viable 3-point threat, Blodgett didn’t want the former Hampden Academy standout to settle exclusively for that element of her game.

“She’s so much more,” Blodgett said. “She can drive, she’s a playmaker, she can make her teammates better, she can rebound.”

Ross admits adding a low-post facet to her game is challenging, particularly on the defensive end of the court.

“Now I’m getting more comfortable,” Ross said. “It’s pretty hard, because I’m not used to guarding the post as well as playing it, so I had to get used to guarding them.”

Blodgett said being able to utilize Ross in the paint as well as on the perimeter will enable UMaine to better mix and match its personnel against that of opponents.

BU coach Kelly Greenberg was impressed by the versatility Ross demonstrated while playing both inside and outside.

“We knew that she’d be a little bit of a mismatch for our forwards, because she doesn’t really post up like the normal posts in our conference do,” Greenberg said. “She can put the ball on the floor a little bit and creates her own shots.”

Ross has shared the small forward position with sophomore co-captain Amanda Tewksbury. However, with Tewksbury having elevated her game of late, that meant one of them wasn’t on the floor for long stretches.

With Ross able to contribute at power forward, she and Tewksbury can play together, or they can alternate at small forward and have sophomore Brittany Boser and junior Colleen Kilmurray teaming up on the inside.

Diversifying Ross’s game also was designed to help create a different mentality for her on the offensive end.

“I’ve been trying to get her to be more aggressive,” Blodgett said, “and by moving her closer to the basket, that makes it a little bit easier.”

Ross and the Bears will be challenged at Vermont, but having more options should enable UMaine to be a more competitive ballclub as the season progresses.

“She’s got a lot of strengths,” Greenberg said. “She’s going to have a nice career here and we’re not looking forward to seeing her twice a year, but it’s good for Maine.”

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

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