The postseason is a period of great possibilities.

Regardless of a team’s regular-season performance, three or four consecutive victories lead to a coveted spot in the NCAA tournament.

To drive that point home, University of Maine women’s basketball coach Cindy Blodgett recently asked her players to watch conference tournament games on TV.

“I really wanted them to watch, leading up to this ‘March Madness, and sort of get caught up in it,'” Blodgett said. “It’s important that they all start feeling what this time of year really should represent.”

The Black Bears’ new season begins with tonight’s 7 o’clock first-round game against Stony Brook in the America East Championship at the University of Hartford’s Chase Arena.

It marks the third meeting this season between eighth-seeded UMaine (7-22) and No. 9 Stony Brook (7-22), which split during the regular season.

“It’s a clean slate going into the tournament,” said sophomore captain Brittany Boser. “On TV there’s tons of tournaments going on and it can be seen that anyone can win on any given day.”

After a difficult season that has tested UMaine’s resolve, the Bears hope to put it all together. They go into postseason having lost five straight and seven of their last eight.

“Yes, we need to look back on the games and learn from them, but at the same time it really is a new slate,” said sophomore captain Amanda Tewksbury. “We don’t have to worry about the other games right now. All we have to worry about is the next one.”

The Bears will be limited in terms of depth, with only eight players in uniform.

Freshmen Emily Rousseau of Biddeford and Tanna Ross of Newburgh are out with knee injuries. Meanwhile, junior Brittany Bowen and freshman Magdala Johnson did not make the trip to Connecticut.

Blodgett declined to comment on their status of the pair, who have played sparingly.

UMaine faces the toughest road to the title, having to win four games in four days.

“It’s not the best situation to be in the play-in game but, at the same time, we still have an opportunity to do some great things in this tournament and surprise some people,” Tewksbury said.

If watching ninth-seeded Illinois nearly knock off former UMaine coach Sharon Versyp’s No. 3 Purdue team for the Big Ten title, or seeing No. 7 seed Louisville shock No. 2 Rutgers in the Big East semifinals wasn’t enough, the Bears can recall the 2007 America East Championship as evidence.

Seventh-seeded University of Maryland Baltimore County stunned most observers by knocking off the top three seeds to win the title.

“It’s a great example,” Tewksbury said. “It really doesn’t matter at this point where you’re at as far as ranking goes, but who comes to show up and play tough.”

Blodgett hopes her Bears can take this opportunity to forget about the stresses and struggles of the season and instead try to play relaxed and confidently.

“I’ve tried to remind them this is fun,” Blodgett said. “This is what you play your whole season for.”

There are no secrets between UMaine and Stony Brook. The Seawolves feature some quick guards and a tenacious two-way forward in Dana Ferraro.

Blodgett believes the Bears must concentrate on their own play and not so much on what the Seawolves might do.

“To me, it’s so much more about how we attack the game,” she said. “I don’t want to react to what Stony Brook’s going to do. I want them to react to what we’re doing.”

UMaine is without two of its most promising young players in Ross and Rousseau.

Rousseau, who was handling point guard duties prior to her injury, was hurt in the Feb. 13 game against Albany in Orono. She has not played since.

Rousseau was averaging 8.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 77 percent from the foul line.

Ross, a small forward, has been nursing her injury since at least mid-February. She sat out the final three regular-season games after averaging 8.8 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists while converting 74 percent of her foul shots.

Both players are expected to participate in postseason conditioning, according to UMaine spokesman Doug DeBiase.

The Bears hope to pull it all together in West Hartford and reap the benefits of their hard work after a transition season under Blodgett.

“They’re very determined and they want to get better,” Boser said of her teammates, “And we really want to win this. We’re definitely optimistic.”

pwarner@bangordailynews.net

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