BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana and Maine’s women’s basketball teams don’t have a lot in common, other than the fact that both programs have made 10 NCAA Tournament appearances each.
However, the Hoosiers and Black Bears – who will play each other at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall – have one of the strangest distinctions in the few games that they’ve played against one another.
Indiana has beaten Maine in each of the three games they’ve played. It’s the scores that make it unusual.
Indiana’s winning scores were 67-58 (2003), 67-59 (2004) and 67-59 again when the two teams met in Nov. 2023 in Portland, Maine.
The Hoosiers (4-3) would like to win by more against the Black Bears at Assembly Hall this time around, but health and depth remains a question.
Guard Sydney Parrish was injured in Indiana’s win against Baylor in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 23. She did not play in the Hoosiers’ 69-39 Battle 4 Atlantis championship game loss to No. 16 North Carolina.
Her return is in question. Indiana did get guard Lexus Bargesser back for the Battle 4 Atlantis games, so the Hoosiers have their primary ballhandlers available.
What the Hoosiers need is consistency. Guard-forward Yarden Garzon had scoring outputs of 18, 7 and 10 points at Battle 4 Atlantis. Guard Shay Ciezki had 2, 34 and 5 points in The Bahamas.
Center Lilly Meister had 20 points (and 8 rebounds) against Columbia in the first game at Battle 4 Atlantis and then combined for nine points and eight rebounds in the next two contests combined.
Maine (3-4) is led by 5-10 guard-forward Caroline Bornemann (13.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.6 apg), who has had four double-doubles so far.
The Black Bears will shoot a lot of 3-pointers (27 per game, ranked 28th nationally), but hasn’t made very many at 29.1% (221st nationally). Sarah Talon is Maine’s second-leading scorer (11.3 ppg) and second-best 3-point shooter at 43.8% Reserve forward Caroline Dotsey converts at a 50% rate.
Maine has beaten La Salle, Rhode Island and Stonehill so far. The Black Bears have lost to Penn, Boston University, Quinnipiac and Harvard – a common opponent with Indiana. The Hoosiers lost in overtime to the Crimson. Maine lost by 42 points.
The Maine game begins a busy week for the Indiana women’s team. Indiana hosts Southern Indiana on Wednesday and then opens its Big Ten account at Penn State on Saturday.
How to watch Indiana vs. Maine
• Who: Indiana Hoosiers (4-3) vs. Maine Black Bears (3-4)
• What: Nonconference regular season game.
• When: Sunday, Dec. 1 at 2 p.m. ET
• Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall.
• TV: Big Ten-plus. (How to watch Big Ten-plus)
• Radio: WBWB in Bloomington.
• Radio announcer: Austin Render.
• Last season: Indiana went 26-8 overall and finished 15-3 in the Big Ten. The Hoosiers lost to South Carolina in the Sweet 16. Maine was 24-10 and finished first in the America East Conference. Maine lost 80-57 to Portland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Last game: Indiana went 2-1 at Battle 4 Atlantis from Nov. 23-25. Indiana defeated Columbia 72-62 and beat No. 18 Baylor 73-65 to advance to the championship game, but the Hoosiers were beaten 69-39 by No. 16 North Carolina to finish runner-up in the tournament. Maine won at Stonehill 87-75 on Tuesday.
• Series history: Indiana leads 3-0. The Hoosiers won 67-59 in Portland, Me. in Nov. 2023.
• Note: The game will serve as the annual ALS Awareness game and fans are encouraged to wear red.
Statistics
Indiana
• Guards (as officially listed): Yarden Garzon (14.1 ppg, 5 rpg), Sydney Parrish (9.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg), Shay Ciezki (11.7 ppg, 2.6 rpg), Chloe Moore McNeil (9.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 3 apg), Lexus Bargesser (3.7 ppg), Julianna LaMendola (2.3 ppg, 3 rpg), Valentyna Kadlecova (1 ppg), Henna Sandvik (0.7 ppg).
• Forwards/centers: Lilly Meister (10.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Karoline Striplin (6.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg), Sharnecce Currie-Jelks (1 ppg, 0.5 rpg), Faith Wiseman (0 ppg).
Maine
• Guards (as officially listed): G-F Caroline Bornemann (13.1 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.6 apg), Sarah Talon (11.3, 3.9 rpg), Paula Gallego (8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.9 apg), Asta Blauenfeldt (6.4 ppg), Olivia Rockwood (5 ppg), G Sera Hodgson (4 ppg), Jaycie Christopher (3.3 ppg), Idan Shlush (1.7 ppg), Emmie Streams (0 ppg).
• Forwards/centers: Caroline Dotsey (7 ppg).
Rankings
– Neither team is ranked.
Meet the coaches
• Teri Moren, Indiana: Moren is in her 11th season at Indiana and has a career record of 230-102 with the Hoosiers. Her overall record in 22 years as a head coach is 428-232. Moren previously coached at Indiana State from 2010-14 and at the University of Indianapolis from 2000-07. Moren was also an assistant coach at Butler (1992-98), Northwestern (1998-2000) and Georgia Tech (2007-10). Moren, a Seymour, Ind. native, played collegiately at Purdue from 1988-92.
• Amy Vachon, Maine: Vachon is in her ninth season at Maine, her only career head coaching spot. Vachon has a career record of 157-82. Vachon was previously an assistant at Maine from 2011-16. Prior to that, Vachon was a high school coach in Maine. Vachon is a Maine Basketball Hall Of Fame inductee and played for the Black Bears from 1996-2000.
