The University of Maine women’s basketball team hopes to have Alfond Arena rocking again Thursday night for its 7:30 North Atlantic Conference game with Hartford.

Maine shattered league and school attendance records Saturday when it beat Boston University in front of 5,624 fans.

So, how impressive are Maine’s attendance figures? Through Sunday, the Black Bears had outdrawn the entire NAC in home games this season.

Maine has watched 35,313 fans stream through the turnstiles for its 10 home contests, an average of 3,531 per game.

The other eight NAC teams, combined, have attracted 32,889 fans in 71 league games. That averages out to 463 per contest.

Coach Joanne Palombo-McCallie said Maine’s success reflects a significant rise in Division I women’s basketball attendance nationwide.

“Women’s basketball has had crowds selling out all over the place,” Palombo said. “Wisconsin just lost to Michigan State and they had a sellout crowd of 11,700. I think people are really getting into it.”

It has been suggested that Saturday’s Maine-BU crowd might have been the largest ever to see an NAC game, men’s or women’s. Not!

Among the largest crowds in NAC history was a throng of 10,049 that watched the Canisius men play Niagara at the Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, N.Y., on Feb. 28, 1987.

There have been other big crowds in the 9,000-10,000 range since the NAC began play in 1979.

With seniors Emilio Colon and Joe Marsilio having finished their careers, University of Maine football coach Jack Cosgrove wanted to add some experience at quarterback for next season.

The Black Bears will have sophomore John Tennett and junior Peter Harteveld in the fold and have signed three players out of high school. But Cosgrove was looking for someone with some games under his belt.

Maine appears to have found just that in Zack Devenish, who played last fall at the College of San Mateo, a junior college in California. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound quarterback was a reserve at the University of California before attending San Mateo.

“He was on an 8-3 team and he had 22 touchdown passes and over 2,000 yards passing,” Cosgrove said. “That’s a pretty good league out there.”

Cosgrove said Devenish showed good skill while directing a balanced offensive scheme, one that might enable him to learn Maine’s system quickly.

“He’s athletic enough with his size to do some of the things that we incorporate into our offense,” Cosgrove said. “We were pleased with what we saw with his overall ability as a runner and a passer.”

Mickey Fein of Centerville, Mass., Brent Naccara of Hewitt, N.J., and Brian Scott of Waterville also have signed to attend Maine.

UMaine distance runner Patty McCormick established another school record last weekend during a meet at Brown University that also included Fordham, Dartmouth and Brandeis.

McCormick, a junior from Peru, N.Y., won the 3,000-meter race in 9 minutes, 52.50 seconds. That shattered the previous mark of 10:05.21 held by Jo Ann Choiniere since 1982.

McCormick, who has qualfied for the ECACs in the 3,000, likely will compete in the 5,000 instead, according to assistant coach Ann England-Maxim. She has qualified, provisionally, for the nationals in that event.

Darren Clough of St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., has passed the 1,000-point career scoring mark. He achieved the feat with a 25-point effort Monday against Merrimack.

Clough, from Orrington, did it in less than three seasons. He starred at Brewer High School.