AUGUSTA — From the outside looking in, it would be easy to say the 2023-24 season would be a rebuild for the University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball team.

It’s been anything but for the Moose.

UMA (21-6) has enjoyed a historic season and once again qualified for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II women’s basketball tournament, which takes place March 9-13 in Richmond, Virginia.

The Moose, who earned a No. 5 seed for the tournament, will face No. 4 Cincinnati-Clermont in the quarterfinal round on March 11. It’s the third consecutive year the Moose have reached nationals.

“We’re super excited,” said UMA forward and fifth-year senior Kaeti Butterfield, a Monmouth Academy graduate. “It’s our third year in a row, highest seeding we’ve ever had. It’s a pretty big motivator for us heading down there.”

“I’m not going to say (the players) are not excited, but they’re not surprised,” said UMA head coach Heath Cowan, who was recently named the Yankee Small College Conference Coach of the Year. “From a program perspective, that’s kind of the neat approach that we’ve taken with nationals. Getting the quality of kids that we do, that’s the expectation. We’re going to have a great time, but we’re (working) so we can get to nationals.”

UMA has a young roster, with just two upperclassmen — Butterfield and junior Ariana Alcide. The Moose feature three sophomores and eight freshmen.

Sophomore guard Alisyn Alley leads the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game. The next four leading scorers — Sage Fortin (12 ppg), Alizabeth Dumont (8.9 ppg), Alicen Higgins (8 ppg) and Brianna Poulin (7.7 ppg) — are all freshmen.

UMA has not lost more than two consecutive games this season, as well. The Moose have won 20 or more games for the second straight season, a first for the program. UMA also broke a record for points in a game during a 124-40 win over New Hampshire Technical Institute on Feb. 24.

University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball player Alizabeth Dumont, left, celebrates after sinking a half-court shot during practice Wednesday at the Augusta Armory in Augusta. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“I think our defense is more intense this year,” Alley said. “That gets us a lot of fast breaks (offensively), which is good for us. Our offense is coming along. But I think we have a really great defense, and that gets us to where we are today.”

“(The acclimation) didn’t take as long as some people probably thought, and I was a little nervous coming into it, just because we have a young team,” Butterfield added. “Honestly, I feel like I’ve played with this specific team for a couple of years now. We just play really well together. It’s one thing to have talent, it’s another to have good basketball I.Q., which is what everybody on this team has. You wouldn’t think any of them are freshmen by the way they play.”

It helps that six of the eight freshmen graduated from central Maine schools. Dumont, Higgins, Poulin and Elizabeth Crommett went to Lawrence High School, where they won the 2023 Class A championship. Fortin is a Cony High School alum, and guard/forward Holly Hunt in a Monmouth Academy graduate.

University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball coach Heath Cowan instructs players during practice Wednesday at the Augusta Armory in Augusta. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

“We’ve got winners,” Cowan said. “We’ve got players that know how to win. The relationships that everyone has (has been a key). You expect the kids that come from the same town, the same high school and know each other to manage some of the difficult times and stick together. But when you add a group like that to another group of people who come to be a part of that, sometimes it can become cliquey. These guys all get along. You can see that (on the floor).”

The Moose will be joined in Virginia by nemesis Central Maine Community College (27-1). The Mustangs, who won the USCAA Division II tournament in 2022, have defeated the Moose three times this season, including a 59-52 victory in the YSCC championship game on March 3.

Southern Maine Community College (20-8) is also in the national tournament.

“In the conference championship game, we made runs, (CMCC) made runs. Their runs were a little longer than ours in the second half,” Cowan said. “It’s interesting that the brackets are set up in a way that it could be an SMCC-UMA-CMCC final four. They separated us out, which is pretty cool. For us to have three from the (YSCC) says something about the top of our conference.”

The Moose will have their hands full against Cincinnati-Clermont. The Cougars (12-8) knocked UMA out of the winner’s bracket of the tournament last season. Cincinnati-Clermont has three players averaging 10 points per game or more in Tyra Murphy (21.3 ppg), Victoria Hord (15 ppg) and Olivia Crawford (10.8 ppg).

« Previous

Next »

Related Stories