The Black Bears enter the America East playoffs with home-court advantage as the league’s top seed.
The University of Maine women’s basketball team entered the season as the team to beat in America East. Nothing has changed in four months.
The Black Bears (22-7,15-1) are seeded first in the America East playoffs, which begin Wednesday with quarterfinal games. Maine will play rival New Hampshire (6-23,3-13) at 7 p.m. at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Last year, Maine won the America East playoffs – and its automatic bid to the NCAA tournament – for the first time since 2004. This time around, the Black Bears will have home-court advantage for all league playoff games and they are welcoming the challenge.
“I don’t think being No. 1 puts any pressure on us,” said junior forward Blanca Millan. “It makes us excited, to be No. 1 back-to-back years. Last year we were underdogs (during the regular season), this year everyone wanted to beat us. We took care of business every day. It’s not pressure anymore.”
Millan was named America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year on Tuesday, just the fourth player in league history to win both awards in the same season. Millan, who led the league in scoring (17.6 points per game) and steals (2.8 per game), was one of several Black Bears honored.
