The University of Maine’s 24-9 women’s basketball team knows it is an overwhelming underdog when it takes on seventh-ranked Ohio State, 25-5, in Friday’s noon NCAA Tournament opener at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio.
The FanDuel betting site lists Ohio State as a 26.5-point favorite and ESPN’s BPI projection has the Buckeyes as a 25.3-point favorite with a 97.9 percent chance of winning.
“I’m not surprised,” UMaine head coach Amy Vachon said. “Ohio State is a great team. They do everything well. They shoot the ball well, they’re strong, they’re physical, they press and they defend.”
But Vachon isn’t conceding anything, according to sophomore guard Sarah Talon.
“The first thing Coach Vachon said to us was we are going there to win,” Talon said. “We’re going to prepare on and off the court just like any other game.
“It’s a great opportunity, of course. But we are going there to win,” Talon said, adding that the team isn’t concerned about what the oddsmakers are saying.
“We play between the lines. We play within ourselves and stay focused on the task at hand and attack it. We have tunnel vision. We aren’t worried about the outside stuff,” Talon said.
This will be UMaine’s 10th NCAA Tournament appearance and Vachon has the unique distinction of playing on the only UMaine team to win a tourney game, 60-58 over Stanford at the Old Dominion University Fieldhouse in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 12, 1999.
Vachon, a second team All-America East point guard, had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the win. America East Player of the Year Jamie Cassidy had 15 points, All-AE second team guard Kristen McCormick had 13 points and seven rebounds and Martina Tinklova produced 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“We were in a very different position that year,” Vachon said. “We were a 10th seed and we were playing [seventh seeded Stanford] on a neutral court. It’s very different than being a 15th seed and playing a two seed [on their home court].”
As she was being apprised of the odds against her Black Bears, graduate student guard Anne Simon quickly said “I don’t care about that.
“It was probably the same [odds] against Indiana,” said Simon, referring to UMaine’s 67-59 loss to the nationally ranked Big Ten Hoosiers on Nov. 30 at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.
UMaine led 48-45 after three periods.
“It was a closer game than anyone thought,” said Simon, who poured in a game-high 34 points.
She said it is “understandable” that nobody gives them a shot.
“You look at Ohio State and then you look at Maine. They’re a great team. But it’s March and anything can happen,” Simon said. “The coaches do a pretty good job preparing us, and I’m just excited to go down there and play without pressure.”
She noted that there was always pressure on them during their America East games because they were one of the conference’s preseason favorites.
“It’s good for us to go out without any pressure on us like we did against Indiana. We’ll see what happens,” Simon said. “The Indiana game was a good preparation for this game. I’m glad our non-conference schedule is hard. That’s the reason we play hard [non-conference] teams. It prepares us for this.”
In addition to Indiana, UMaine played two other NCAA Tournament teams this season in Richmond (77-43 loss) and Drake (72-56 loss).
The winner of the Ohio State-Maine game will take on the winner of the Richmond-Duke game in the second round.
Ohio State beat Indiana 74-69 in Columbus.
“It’s called March Madness for a reason. You never know,” UMaine junior forward Adrianna Smith said. “It will be fun to play there. Last year, we went to Gonzaga and that was a good environment [to prepare us for Ohio State]. They had a great fan base.”
UMaine traveled to Gonzaga and lost 63-42 in front of 4,602 fans.
“When we played Indiana, it was probably 50-50 cheering for us and cheering for Indiana [because of Hoosier All-American and Gorham native Mackenze Holmes],” Smith said. “It’s about proving we can play with those Big Ten teams and staying true to who we are.”
She added that the Indiana game and the way they have played all season has given them confidence going into the Ohio State game.
“As long as you try your best, winning is possible,” senior guard Olivia Rockwood said.
Vachon said there is always a good vibe going into the NCAA Tournament.
“You’re one of just 68 teams to do it [among 349 in Division I]. It’s pretty special,” Vachon said.
Even though UMaine is 1-9 in the NCAA Tournament, four of the losses were by 10 points or less.
The Black Bears lost to North Carolina 62-57 in Santa Barbara, Cal. in 2000; 88-79 to Louisiana State University in 1997, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; 72-62 to Old Dominion after their win over Stanford in 1999 and 60-50 to Texas Tech in Missoula, Montana, in 2004.
In their last tourney appearance in 2019, they lost to host North Carolina State 63-51.