OT: Maine Tip-Off Tourney

[mainejeff]

Maine hosts a great season opening tourney in Bangor on Friday & Saturday.

The Black Bears play Purdue (a return to the Pine Tree State for former Maine head coach Sharon Versyp) @ 5:00pm followed by #10 Mississippi State vs. Villanova. Winners and losers play on Saturday @ 5;00pm & 7:00pm. This tourney is a huge deal for Richard Barron & his program. Getting 3 programs of this caliber to come to Maine for the same tourney is a tremendous accomplishment. Playing in the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor has really helped return the program to mid-major prominence. They are expecting big crowds for this tourney.

Maine welcomes 9 newcomers this season including 6 Europeans (3 from Spain, 2 from Croatia, 1 from Sweden). They have a 20 point exhibition win over D-2 Stonehill. They recently scrimmaged Syracuse in a closed door session. I believe the freshmen will bring Maine to the next level. Barron has stated that he wants a Dayton like program that can challenge for a national ranking and multiple wins in the NCAA Tourney.....we will see.

Would love to see UConn in this tourney. Maybe word will get around and Maine can provide Geno with the right match-up with the right team in the opening round.

Here are the links to Maine's roster and free streaming for this weekend's games:

Maine Roster: 2016-17 Women's Basketball Roster - University of Maine Athletics

Maine vs. Purdue: Watch Live Sports Events and ESPN Programs Online and on Mobile Applications - WatchESPN

 

[Charliebball]

I'm more a a fan of UM Presque Isle Owls..........................

 

[ChicagoGG]

Good luck to Black Bears!!! They seem to be embarking on a new era. Happy for them.

 

[FanFromMaine]

Maine hosts a great season opening tourney in Bangor on Friday & Saturday.

The Black Bears play Purdue (a return to the Pine Tree State for former Maine head coach Sharon Versyp) @ 5:00pm followed by #10 Mississippi State vs. Villanova. Winners and losers play on Saturday @ 5;00pm & 7:00pm. This tourney is a huge deal for Richard Barron & his program. Getting 3 programs of this caliber to come to Maine for the same tourney is a tremendous accomplishment. Playing in the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor has really helped return the program to mid-major prominence. They are expecting big crowds for this tourney.

Maine welcomes 9 newcomers this season including 6 Europeans (3 from Spain, 2 from , 1 from Sweden). They have a 20 point exhibition win over D-2 Stonehill. They recently scrimmaged Syracuse in a closed door session. I believe the freshmen will bring Maine to the next level. Barron has stated that he wants a Dayton like program that can challenge for a national ranking and multiple wins in the NCAA Tourney.....we will see.

Would love to see UConn in this tourney. Maybe word will get around and Maine can provide Geno with the right match-up with the right team in the opening round.

Here are the links to Maine's roster and free streaming for this weekend's games:

Maine Roster: 2016-17 Women's Basketball Roster - University of Maine Athletics

Maine vs. Purdue: Watch Live Sports Events and ESPN Programs Online and on Mobile Applications - WatchESPN

I see eastern Maine represented on the roster. Where are the western Maine players going?

 

[mainejeff]

I see eastern Maine represented on the roster. Where are the western Maine players going?

D-2, UNH, Marist, Albany.......quite frankly, there aren't many HS players in the state that would move the meter like the Euros that Baron is bringing in. Sutton, the transfer from Duquesne is also looking like a great for the program.

 

[ChicagoGG]

Glad this game is on EPSN3 tonight - going to check it out!

 

[mainejeff]

Maine 67 Purdue 47

The Black Bears did it with a bunch of Euro freshmen plus dynamic transfer guard Tanesha Sutton. As a comparison Maine lost @ Purdue last season 56-33 with a senior oriented line-up.

Maine will play #10 Mississippi State tomorrow night around 7:30 on ESPN3 (all of Maine's home games are on that platform this season). MSU destroying Nova tonight 80-45 at the end of 3.

 

[ChicagoGG]

I enjoyed watching that Maine win yesterday. Thanks for the info that the Saturday game is also on ESPN3 (and all their other home games).
Going to pass that tidbit along to some friends who will be glad to know that.

 

[UcMiami]

What a nice gathering of teams for Maine to have put together.

And kudos to Kentucky as well for organizing the Kentucky Classic with Albany and Miami playing a three team round robin.

Nice to see some gatherings of quality teams early in the year - a step forward for WCBB scheduling.

 

[BroadwayVa]

Maine hosts a great season opening tourney in Bangor on Friday & Saturday.

The Black Bears play Purdue (a return to the Pine Tree State for former Maine head coach Sharon Versyp) @ 5:00pm followed by #10 Mississippi State vs. Villanova. Winners and losers play on Saturday @ 5;00pm & 7:00pm. This tourney is a huge deal for Richard Barron & his program. Getting 3 programs of this caliber to come to Maine for the same tourney is a tremendous accomplishment. Playing in the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor has really helped return the program to mid-major prominence. They are expecting big crowds for this tourney.

Maine welcomes 9 newcomers this season including 6 Europeans (3 from Spain, 2 from Croatia, 1 from Sweden). They have a 20 point exhibition win over D-2 Stonehill. They recently scrimmaged Syracuse in a closed door session. I believe the freshmen will bring Maine to the next level. Barron has stated that he wants a Dayton like program that can challenge for a national ranking and multiple wins in the NCAA Tourney.....we will see.

Would love to see UConn in this tourney. Maybe word will get around and Maine can provide Geno with the right match-up with the right team in the opening round.

Here are the links to Maine's roster and free streaming for this weekend's games:

Maine Roster: 2016-17 Women's Basketball Roster - University of Maine Athletics

Maine vs. Purdue: Watch Live Sports Events and ESPN Programs Online and on Mobile Applications - WatchESPN

I too hope you have a more than successful year. If your European women are like those of other teams you'll be on your road to glory. I'll spread the word to my cousins in Maine--
I also would like to see Uconn give your Tourney a boost--old Yankee Conf foes should help each other to success. Ask him nicely about 3 years in advance. If that works I'll work on him to play JMU in one of the coming years.

 

[mainejeff]

Well we were thrashed by MSU 87-43....but what a privilege to see a team of their calibur in person! Not sure what you UConn fans think of them.......they are freakin quick and have some HUGE interior players. Maine didn't stand a chance with the amount of youth they put on the floor, but they competed. And hopefully, they won't be quite as shell shocked when they take the court next weekend @ South Carolina!

 

[UcMiami]

Well we were thrashed by MSU 87-43....but what a privilege to see a team of their calibur in person! Not sure what you UConn fans think of them..they are freakin quick and have some HUGE interior players. Maine didn't stand a chance with the amount of youth they put on the floor, but they competed. And hopefully, they won't be quite as shell shocked when they take the court next weekend @ South Carolina!

It is hopefully very good 'seasoning' for your young team and should get you prepared for a strong conference schedule. You never want a team to be 'broken' by too tough a schedule but a couple of smack downs can be helpful for a coaching staff to get their players' attention in practice. (unfortunately Purdue losing to Villanova makes the first win a little less impressive.) We smacked MSU around last year, but we did that to most of the competition - I think they are a team on the rise, and just ended up steamrolled by the Uconn machine. You all performed on par with Villanova through the weekend which isn't a bad place to be this early in the year.

 

[ChicagoGG]

The Black Bears made fans in our house!! Definitely going to keep an eye on them on tv and maybe get to go to a game at UHart.
Their OOC schedule is pretty intense - MSU, Purdue AND South Carolina? They'll be a tough bunch when conference play comes around.