Heading into the holiday break the University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball team sits at 9-4. The Moose have won five out of their last six games; they led Bates 40-35 at halftime in their one loss.

“I think our team chemistry is phenomenal,” UMA coach Jennifer Laney said. “It’s been something that the players really worked hard on. We only have one returner this year. They’ve been able to vibe off each other.”

UMA finished 15-12 last season and made the USCAA national tournament. Richmond graduate Jamie Plummer, a sophomore, is the only returning player from that team. Plummer is tops on the Moose with 20.2 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

“That’s always a concern for a coach, having so many new players,” Laney said. “It’s just really been so seamless. The players have done a great job of coming together and playing like they’ve been playing together their entire lives.”

Carmen Bragg is second on the Moose with 14.5 points per game and is shooting 41 percent on 3-pointers. Forest Hills graduate Kori Coro, Monmouth grad Kylie Kemp, and Erskine grad Jessica St. Amand are all averaging between eight and 10 points per contest. That gives UMA a lot of options, and Laney said the Moose are versatile enough to handle different things.

“In the past,” Laney said, “we’ve definitely had some standout players — and we still do — but we’re really trying to focus on getting everybody involved.”

UMA is ranked fifth in the latest USCAA Division II national poll. This season, the Moose play three of the four teams ahead of them, in addition to tough opponents like Bates and Briarcliffe of New York — which is ranked 14th in USCAA Division I. UMA’s first game after the break is Jan. 10 against Berkeley College of New York, ranked No. 1 in the USCAA Division II.

“We’ve been very lucky with our schedule,” Laney said. “We’ve had an opportunity to play a lot of tough teams.”

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The UMaine-Augusta men’s basketball team might have the best scoring duo in the USCAA Division II. Brandon Rogers is fifth in the nation in scoring at 23.1 points per game, while Lawrence grad Keith Chesley is ninth at 22.1 ppg.

Rogers had one three-game stretch where he scored 31, 33, and 37 points — an average of 33.7 ppg. Chesley, meanwhile, had a five-game stretch where he averaged 31 ppg.

Chesley and Rogers are also fifth and sixth, respectively, in the USCAA in rebounds per game, as they’re each averaging 10.9.

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Sometimes the image a player’s numbers project doesn’t fit the real-life player. Take the following women’s college basketball player, for example. Over this player’s last three games, she’s made 18 of her 24 2-point shots and is averaging 9.7 rebounds per game. Sounds like a 6-foot center, right?

Those are actually the numbers for Messalonskee grad Mary Badeen, a 5-foot-3 junior guard at Maine Maritime Academy. Badeen also took a whopping 35 3-pointers in those three games, along with collecting 12 assists and 12 steals.

Even in high school, Badeen was an above-average rebounder for her size, and she’s averaging 7.2 boards per game this season to go along with 19.9 points.

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Another player who is hitting most of her 2-point shots is Carrabec grad Macy Welch, a freshman on the women’s basketball team at Central Maine Community College. Through 13 games, Welch has taken 51 2-pointers and made 32, a mark of 62.7 percent.

Welch can also knock down the three — she’s 3-for-8 this season — but generally leaves that to teammates like Mt. Blue grad Gabby Foy. In 42 career games at CMCC, Foy has already made 111 3-pointers, or nearly three per game.

Matt DiFilippo — 861-9243

mdifilippo@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @Matt_DiFilippo

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