MAINE vs. NORTHEASTERN

Time, site: Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland

Records: Maine 0-0; Northeastern 1-0

Series: Maine leads 23-14

Key players: Maine – 6-4 C Jamie Cassidy (17.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.5 bpg last season), 5-7 G Amy Vachon (6.5 ppg, 6.5 apg), 6-4 F Martina Tinklova (3.1 ppg, 2.6 rpg), 5-7 G Tracy Guerrette (first season), 6-2 F Andrea Clark (1.4 ppg, 1.5 rpg), 5-11 F Kelly Bowman, (0.8 ppg, 1.1 rpg); Northeastern – 5-6 G Tesha Tinsley (21 ppg, 5 rpg, 4 spg), 5-10 G Wanda Almengot (4 ppg, 10 rpg), 6-1 F Betsy Palecek (19 ppg, 12 rpg), 6-0 F Beth Hanewald (1 ppg), 6-3 C Lani Lawrence (4 ppg, 9 rpg)

Outlook: The Bears are likely to be tested in their America East opener. Maine has been slowed by injuries and illnesses, which have claimed Katie Clark, Jess Lawson, Ellen Geraghty, Kristen McCormick, and Eva Moldre. NU’s sparkplug is the scrappy Tinsley, a first-team, All-America East guard. The Huskies return the nucleus of the 15-13 team that lost to Maine 77-70 in the league semifinals. The Bears’ revamped lineup features All-America East center Cassidy. The rebounding of she, Clark, and Tinklova will among the keys to the game. Northeastern opened Wednesday with a 59-54 win over Quinnipiac.