ORONO – The Black Bears got back to their winning ways over the weekend, but they will tell you they still have plenty to improve on.
The UMaine women’s basketball team cemented a new win streak on Saturday and Sunday with a pair of wins over the New Jersey Institute of Technology; the first wins against the Highlanders in program history.
It can be easy to point to double-digit victories in both games as a mark of success, but like any team destined for great success, and focused on fine tuning its game, they draw on the negatives to improve. Negatives such as: giving up a 13-2 run to NJIT in the first five and a half minutes of the second half of Saturday’s game, and committing 22 fouls as a team.
“I think right now consistency is a big thing. In each game there are times that we play really, really well, and then we’ll have a four or five minute spurt that we don’t play so well, so finding that consistency throughout the game,” said Amy Vachon, UMaine women’s basketball head coach.
Blanca Millan, senior and team captain, notched her fourth career double-double in Saturday’s game, and earned her eleventh America East Player of the Week award on Monday. Millan has missed no time as scoring leader, but this season she has been able to play off of sophomore Anne Simon, and now the two sit a top the team’s scoring statistics.
“If teams focus on me, then she can go and do that. We kind of supplement each other, so I think it’s really good for us,” said Millan.
UMaine hosts Vermont on Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+.