Posted: Feb 26, 2014
NEWPORT NEWS, Virginia – The University of Maine at Augusta women's basketball team will continue their playoff run, as the Moose were one of eight teams named to the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Championship Tournament to be hosted March 4th through 8th in Uniontown, Pennsylvania.
After becoming the first women's basketball team in the history to play for a Yankee Small College Conference Championship, the Moose will enter the USCAA Division II tournament as the number seven seed, facing off against number two seed, the University of Cincinnati-Claremont on Thursday, March 6th at 4:00 pm.
UMA is one of two teams from the New England Yankee Small College Conference tournament to attend nationals, with YSCC Champions Central Maine Community College heading in as the number one seed.
The Moose finished the season with a record of 15-10 and a 10-5 record in the YSCC and boasted three of the top five scorers in the conference, led by sophomore Arreonte Lee (San Antonio, Tex) who averaged 20.8 points per game, freshman Jamie Plummer (Richmond, Maine) who averaged 19.4 points and led the conference in blocks (2.7 pg), and Jennifer Lola (Monmouth, Maine) who averaged 18.4 points per game.
"We set a goal at the beginning of the season to make it to Nationals," Head Coach Jennifer Laney said. "All year long, our motto has been 'whatever it takes.' The players have made many sacrifices, doing extra sessions in the gym, spending time away from friends and family, enduring long bus rides, playing through sore muscles and fatigue."
Different players have stepped up at different times for the Moose; in the opening round of the playoffs, it was Plummer who led the way with 37 points and 21 rebounds, while freshman Courtney Jicks (Lake Charles, La.) scored 18 and walked away with the Outstanding Defensive Player of the Tournament award. In the second game, Lee led the way with 30 points en route to hitting the 1,000 point mark in just two seasons.
"Every single person has stepped up this season," Laney said. "They never gave up, never stopped early, and today they were rewarded for their efforts. Now we will set a new team goal heading into the tournament."