No. 1 Maine and No. 2 Hartford Poised for #AEPlayoffs Title Game Rematch
For the second consecutive year, Maine and Hartford will play for the America East women’s basketball title. It is this first time since 2016 and fifth time in the past ten years that the top two seeds will vie for the championship.
No. 1 Maine (24-7) will host the championship game for the second consecutive year after defeating No. 4 UAlbany at home on Sunday. The Black Bears have now won 13 consecutive games and are one of 11 teams in the country with an active such streak.
No. 2 Hartford (23-9) stretched a win streak of its own, notching a seventh-straight victory. The Hawks defeated No. 3 Stony Brook in front of their home crowd to improve to 10-0 at home this season.
Maine and Hartford will meet in the championship game on Friday, March 15 in Bangor at the Cross Insurance Center. Tip time is at 5 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Read more about the semifinals below. For full playoff coverage, including box scores, highlights and more, visit #AEPlayoffs Central.
Recap
at #1 Maine 66, #4 UAlbany 51
- UAlbany built a ten-point lead by the end of the first quarter and Maine only led for three-and-a-half minutes of game time before leading 34-32 at the break.
- Tanesha Sutton scored 20 points through three quarters and finished with a game-high 21 and seven rebounds.
- The Black Bears outscored the Great Danes 32-19 in the final 20 minutes and made 24 of 26 free throws.
- Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Blanca Millan scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds while All-Conference choice Dor Saar finished with 16 points and five assists.
- UAlbany All-Conference selections Kyara Frames and Heather Forster finished with 20 and 19 points respectively.
- The Black Bears are making their fourth-straight championship appearance and conference-best 19th overall.
at #2 Hartford 64, #3 Stony Brook 59
- After the opening frame, Stony Brook led 12-7 but neither team was able to connect on a three-point shot on a combined 18 attempts.
- The Seawolves led by seven at halftime and outrebounded the Hawks 46-33.
- Junior All-Conference selection Sierra DaCosta scored a game-high 22 points amidst absorbing several blows to the head.
- Fellow all-league choice and All-Defensive honoree Jade Young finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
- India Pagan scored a team-high 16 points while filling out the stat sheet with seven rebounds and five assists.
- The Hawks advance to their third #AEPlayoffs championship game in the last five years and 11th in program history.
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