AUBURN, Maine - The University of Maine at Augusta women's basketball team will begin their quest for a Yankee Small College Conference Championship on Thursday night when the second-seeded Moose take on Great Bay Community College at 9:00 p.m. at Central Maine Community College in the first round of the YSCC Elite Eight. The men's basketball team enters the Elite Eight Tournament as the fourth seed, the highest ever for the Moose since the creation of the eight-team playoff format, and will take on the University of Maine at Machias at 9:00 on Friday evening.
All games are available online at the following link:
http://cmmustangs.com/broadcast/a8uh2j
Admission is $7.00 for a day pass to all of the games and $15.00 for the entire tournament.
The Moose secured the second seed after posting the best regular season record in school history, with a mark of 21-7 and a 12-1 record in the conference. Head coach Jennifer Laney's team was ranked as high first place in the USCAA Division II Coaches Poll and completed the regular season ranked third. UMA posted key wins over Division II University of Maine at Fort Kent and a dramatic last minute victory over conference rival CMCC.
UMA will be led by the tandem of Jamie Plummer (Richmond, Maine) and Caitlin LaFountain (Topsham, Maine) who come into the tournament averaging 14.8 and 14.3 points per game, respectively. Both players are averaging double-digits in rebounds as well, and Darby Toth (North Port, Fla.) leads the Moose with a 36.2 three-point percentage and 4.6 assists per game.
The men's team also had one of the most successful seasons in recent history, posting a mark of 13-15 overall and an 8-5 record in the conference. The Moose had a key over-time victory over Vermont Tech, along with an important 100-81 home win over Machias.
UMA is led by Keith Chesley (Clinton, Maine) and Brandon Rogers (Turlock, Calif.) who average 23.4 and 21.2 points per game, respectively. Rogers leads the nation in rebounding with 15.8 boards per game, while Chesley is averaging 9.6.
The schedule for the weekend is as follows:
Women (Thursday-Feb 18th)
3 PM College of St Joe's vs. University of Maine at Machias
5 PM New Hampshire Technical Institute vs. Southern Maine Community College
7 PM Hampshire vs. Central Maine
9 PM University of Maine at Augusta vs. Great Bay Community College
Men (Friday-Feb 19th)
3 PM College of St Joe's vs. Unity College
5 PM New Hampshire Technical Institute vs. Southern Maine Community College
7 PM Central Maine vs. Vermont Technical College
9 PM University of Maine at Augusta vs. University of Maine at Machias
Saturday-Feb 20th-Women's Semi-Finals
12pm: winner of CSJ/UMM vs winner of SMCC/NHTI
2pm: winner of UMA/Great Bay vs winner of CM/Hampshire
Men's Semi-Finals
4pm: winner of CSJ/Unity vs winner UMA/UMM
6pm: winner of CM/VTC vs winner SMCC/NHTI
Sunday-Feb 21st
12:00 Women's Championship
2:15 Men's Championship