Going Dancing: Maine Women’s Basketball on Its Way to NCAA Tournament

Breakout your finest shoes, because Mains is going dancing.

For the first time since 2019, the University of Maine Women's Basketball team is heading to the NCAA Tournament. The Black Bears received an automatic berth for winning the Atlantic East Conference Championship last week. UMaine is now set for a matchup against one of the best teams in the land, the Ohio State Buckeyes.

This is exciting news for the Black Bears, who absolutely steamrolled Vermont in the America East finale, 64-43. UMaine was an absolute wagon in the conference this year, finishing with a 14-2 record. Overall, Maine heads into the Big Dance with a 24-9 record, one of the best in school history.

The Black Bears were given a 15-seed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee and face the number 2-seed Ohio State in Regional 3. The game will be played in Columbus, with the tip coming on Friday, March 22, at 12pm. The winner of this matchup will face the winner of Duke and Richmond on Monday, March 24.

It will unquestionably be a tall task for Maine, considering a 15-seed has never beaten a 2-seed in the history of the Women's tournament. But there's always a first time for everything. Plus, Maine has already pulled off a monster upset before in the tournament, when the Bears took down Stanford in 1999, when Maine was a 10-seed.

That team was led by current head coach Amy Vachon, who continues to bring success to Orono. Vachon is leading the Black Bears to a third trip to the Big Dance under her reign. Overall, she has a record of 141-68. Vachon's .670 winning percentage is one of the best in program history.

This has already been an exceptional year for UMaine Women's Basketball. A conference regular season championship, conference tournament championship, conference coach of the year (Vachon's fifth COY award), player of the year (Anne Simon), two conference first team players (Simon and Adrianna Smith), and a whole boatload of wins and incredible memories have already come the Black Bears way. This season is one that the players, coaches, and fans will never forget.

Good luck to the Black Bears! Let us hope we see an upset for the ages.