The University of Maine women’s basketball team is looking to get on a serious roll as it moves into the second half of the America East season.

If there is one player on the squad who is capable of sparking the Black Bears to success, especially at the offensive end, it is Missy Traversi.

The senior guard hopes to energize the crowd and her teammates tonight when UMaine plays host to Binghamton in a 7:30 game at Alfond Arena in Orono.

Traversi, the leading scorer this season for the Bears (11-8 overall, 7-2 AE) with 13.1 points per game, also is closing in on a personal milestone. The 5-foot-7 guard from Attleboro, Mass., is 16 points away from scoring her 1,000th career point.

Traversi, a team captain, looks to join a select UMaine club in that category. Only 14 previous Black Bears have scored 1,000 points in the 30-year history of the program. She stands 15th all-time at UMaine with 984 points and sits 68 points behind Lisa Cormier, who scored 1,052 points from 1980-84.

The last two players to accomplish the feat were Julie Veilleux and Melissa Heon, both of whom hit the 1,000 mark before completing their careers last season.

Traversi leads the Bears this season with 37 3-pointers on 44 percent accuracy.

UMaine could have yet another 1,000-point scorer later this season. Senior forward Monica Peterson has connected for 898 career points and needs 102 in the final 10 games to join Traversi on the Bears’ all-time list.

UMaine players honored

The UMaine women’s basketball team will be well represented Sunday when the university recognizes the academic accomplishments of its student-athletes.

Senior co-captains Kim Corbitt and Missy Traversi head the list of Black Bear women’s players who will be honored. They will be recipients of Gold Medals, given to student-athletes who have maintained the academic standards for three years or longer.

Sophomores Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor, Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa and Ashley Underwood of Benton, along with senior Nicole Jay, will receive Silver Medals (two-year honorees). Freshman Margaret Elderton is among the Rising Stars.

To be recognized, they must have achieved a grade point average of 3.0 or higher for the year and/or have a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. First-year student-athletes must have earned a 3.0 or higher for their first semester at UMaine.

Ceremonies will be held during halftime of Sunday’s noon men’s basketball game between UMaine and Binghamton at Alfond Arena. UMaine also will announce the winners of the Graduate “M” Club’s Dean Smith Awards, presented to the top male and female student-athletes.

Maine women travel to PC

The University of Maine women’s hockey team will finish up a stretch of six straight road games when they visit Schneider Arena to face the nation’s 10th-ranked Providence College Friars on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2.

Providence is 13-7-4 overall, 8-1-1 in Hockey East, while Maine is 12-7-3 and 3-5-2, respectively.

The Friars, 3-2 and 4-2 winners over Maine on Nov. 20-21, are in second place in Hockey East, one point behind New Hampshire.

Maine is fourth, two points behind UConn and two ahead of Boston College. The top four qualify for the Hockey East Tournament.

The Bears had last weekend off and, after this weekend, they will finish with six of their last eight games at home.

“It’s a disadvantage playing on the road, but at the same time, we played well at UNH [1-0 loss, 3-3 tie]. We should have had a win. We’re ready to go,” said Maine junior defenseman Morgan Janusc, whose Bears split at UConn two weekends ago.

“We’ve come a long way since the beginning of the season,” added Janusc.

“The team is playing great now,” agreed sophomore goalie Rachel Gettings.

Maine has been led by Tristan Desmet (12 goals, 11 assists), Cheryl White (12 & 6), and Andrea Steranko (7 & 11) along with Gettings (12-7-2, 1.99 goals-against average, .895 save percentage).

Providence, which split with UNH last weekend, features Rush Zimmerman (14 goals, 25 assists), who is tied for the league lead in scoring, and Hockey East Player of the Month Karen Thatcher (17 & 21) along with goalie Amy Thomas (12-7-4, 2.53, .895).

Maine will host UNH on Feb. 12-13.