College basketball is officially right around the corner. Coming off of a 24-10 season, capped off with an America East conference tournament championship and a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Tournament appearance, Head Coach Amy Vachon and the University of Maine Black Bears Women’s Basketball team are gearing up for another exciting season, ready to defend their conference title and making a mark on the national stage.
Maine returned almost all of their rotation, except Anne Simon, who graduated in Spring 2024. Simon is now playing for Lupe Basket in San Martino di Lupari in the Italian Serie A1 in Italy- she will be deeply missed by the Black Bear nation.
Simon ranks fifth on Maine’s all-time scoring list, and is the reigning America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, awards she won multiple times. She led Maine in scoring with 18.9 PPG, only one of two Black Bears to average double-digit points last season. Her absence will leave a massive hole on both the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.
Entering the season, Maine looked to rely on their superstar fourth-year forward Adrianna Smith. When Simon missed most of the 2022-23 season due to injury, Smith stepped up and was awarded the America East Player of the Year. Last season, Smith tied for fifth place in the NCAA with 22 double-doubles in 34 games, finishing just behind players like LSU’s Angel Reese and Iowa’s Caitlin Clark.
However, on Oct. 11, the team announced that Smith would miss the entire season due to an ACL tear in her left knee.
“We are heartbroken for Adi,” said Vachon. “Although we will not have Adi as a teammate on the court, she will continue to be a great leader and an important part of our team this season.”
Starters Olivia Rockwood and Caroline Bornemann are both back for their fifth seasons. Rockwood is one of, if not the best sharpshooter on the team. When she is on, the Vermont native can become an instant spark for the offense, highlighted when she made eight three-pointers in a Maine victory over Bryant last year. Bornemann has been a constant part of Maine’s success over the past three seasons, starting all but two games of that stretch.
The opportunity for one of the younger players to step up has never been bigger. Sarah Talon, the third-year guard from Windham, ME is a player to watch. Talon has earned a better role each season, coming off the bench her freshman year, to starting all 34 games last season. With Simon gone, expect the ball to be in her hands more. While her three-point shot struggled the previous year, Talon shot 44.4% from behind the arc the season prior. With a bounce-back year from her jumper and strength as an on-ball creator, the speedy Talon will be causing havoc for opposing teams’ defenses.
It is always hard to predict how much impact the new freshmen will have during the preseason with such a small sample size, but Maine has a very talented class that could affect winning early. Maddie Fitzpatrick was the Maine Gatorade Player of the year last year. Vachon has high praise for the young guard, saying “Maddie is a player I have wanted to coach since the first time I saw her play.”
Isabelle (Izzy) Allen is a sharpshooter. On a UMaine offense that loves shooting threes, taking 24 attempts from behind the line per game last year, Allen could play a similar role to Rockwood and supply a spark off the bench. Ona Alarcón is a talented forward who can play inside and out. At 6’3, Alarcón adds some much-needed size to a somewhat smaller Black Bear team and is the tallest player on the team.
The expectations are as high as ever for Maine and they are prepped and ready to exceed them in the season ahead. Opening day is on Nov. 4, as they welcome the visiting La Salle University Explorers.