University of Maine at Augusta women’s basketball player Molly Hay dribbles the ball by a defender during a Feb. 4 practice in Augusta. The Moose will play in the USAA Division II tournament for the fourth straight season. Anna Chadwick/Morning Sentinel
AUGUSTA — The University of Maine women’s basketball team is dancing again.
The Moose (26-3) earned the No. 5 seed for the United States Collegiate Athletic Association Division II National Championship tournament. UMA, along with rival Central Maine Community College (28-1) of Auburn, will be in the mix in the 10-team tournament, which takes place March 11-15 in Buffalo, New York.
“It’s exciting, it’s a big accomplishment,” said UMA sophomore forward Lillian Cox. “It shows how much hard work we’ve put in as a team.”
“We definitely have some unfinished business (in the tournament),” added sophomore forward and Lawrence High alum Elizabeth Crommet.
This is the fourth straight trip to the national tournament for the Moose under coach Heath Cowan, who was hired prior to the 2021-22 season. Cowan, who has an 89-28 record at UMA, was recently named the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) Coach of the Year for a second straight season.
“I really like that (the national tournament) has become an expectation (for the program),” Cowan said. “It’s not really becoming a question of us getting in, it’s who are we going to play when we’re sitting there watching (the selection show), which is pretty cool.”
UMA, which earned a first-round bye, will play No. 4 Johnson & Wales University-Charlotte in a second round game at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday at Villa Maria College in Buffalo. The Wildcats (15-10) boast two players who average more than 10 points per game, senior guard Jordan Durant (13.3 ppg) and freshman guard Maliah Preston (10.1 ppg). Johnson & Wales-Charlotte reached the national championship game last season.
“Johnson & Wales, their guards are really quick,” Cowan said. “They’ve got a pretty good-sized big in the middle. They mix their (man-to-man defense) and zone. Statistically, we match up really well with them. They shoot (3-pointers), but they don’t shoot as high of a percentage as we do. If we get down there and just play our game, I think we’ll have an opportunity to move on.”
Last year, the Moose fell 81-50 to Cincinnati-Clermont in the quarterfinal round, and then lost 72-57 in the consolation round to Miami-Hamilton.
“I don’t think it’s going to be too nerve-racking,” Crommett said. “(Johnson & Wales) doesn’t know us, we don’t know them. We just have to go and play our game. It’s just one game at a time. It’s a little nerve-racking just because we don’t know who they are, but also exciting.”
The Moose set the program record for wins in a season and went 13-1 in the YSCC. They won 22 consecutive games, starting on Nov. 19 and ending on March 2, when they lost to CMCC, 74-61, in the conference title game. The Moose reached as high as No. 3 in the USCAA national rankings this year.
Sophomore guard and Cony High graduate Sage Fortin (17.9 ppg) leads the Moose in scoring, followed by junior guard Alisyn Alley (14.8) and freshman guard Beth Petrocci (14.8 ppg). Petrocci has proven to be a dangerous 3-point shooter for UMA, making 42.3 percent of her shots from long range. Cox is averaging 11.1 rebounds per game.
As they have in previous years, the Mustangs continue to be a thorn in the side of the Moose. CMCC has won eight straight YSCC titles. UMA handed CMCC it’s only loss, 87-81 in overtime on Jan. 29.
CMCC has also had success on the national stage, winning three USCAA Division II championships, its last in 2022. Ella Lavigne (22.4 ppg) and Hunter Hartsgrove (17.9 ppg) have been the Mustangs’ leading scorers this season.
“I don’t think (the CMCC loss) got us down too bad,” Fortin said. “I think we’re going to come back stronger. We’re more mad about the YSCC championship (game). They’ve won (a game), we’ve won one, they’ve won one. Now it’s our turn to win one. That’s kind of our mentality.”
Other teams involved in the tournament are Penn State York (22-6), Penn State Beaver (19-9), Penn State DuBois (14-10), Penn State Shenango (16-9), Cincinnati-Clermont (12-11) and Christendom College (23-2), the defending national champion.
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