The University of Maine men’s hockey team entered the national USCHO Top 20 poll on Monday for the first time this season.
The Black Bears, coming off a 4-2 home victory over Northeastern on Friday, are ranked 17th. Maine (15-9-4) has won five consecutive games, all against Hockey East opponents.
Other Hockey East schools in the Top 20 are Boston College (7), UMass (8), UMass Lowell (11), Northeastern (12), and Providence (14).
The last time the Black Bears were ranked in the Top 20 was two seasons ago, when they were tied for 20th on Jan. 8, 2018.
Maine is also 13th this week in the PairWise rankings, a tabulation used by the NCAA tournament committee to help determine the 16 teams to make the postseason tourney. Maine has not appeared in the NCAA tournament since 2012.
The Black Bears are back in action this weekend, when they host UConn in Orono on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
(7) DUKE 70, (8) FLORIDA STATE 65: Tre Jones had 13 points to help the Blue Devils (21-3, 11-2 ACC) overcome a turnover-heavy performance to beat the Seminoles (20-4, 10-3) in Durham, North Carolina.
TOP 25: Baylor remains atop The Associated Press poll in a largely static week among the top 10.
The Bears received 48 of 64 first-place votes from a media panel in the poll released Monday to stay at No. 1 for the fourth straight week. No. 2 Gonzaga had 15 first-place votes and No. 3 Kansas one.
San Diego State and Louisville rounded out the top five. Preseason No. 1 Michigan State dropped out of the poll from No. 16 following a three-game losing streak. The Spartans are the first preseason No. 1 to drop out of the rankings since Kentucky did it twice in 2013-14.
Seton Hall was the only change among the top 10 after moving up two spots to No. 10.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
ST. JOSEPH’S 85, UM-FORT KENT 55: Julia Quinn had 25 points and had four assists as the Monks (15-7) topped the Bengals (12-12) in Standish.
Cassandra Stapelfeld added 14 points and Lexi L’Heureux-Carland had nine points and seven rebounds for St. Joseph’s.
Stephanie Cervantes led the Bengals with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Ranika Guyton added 13 points and Keri La had 10 points.
(1) SOUTH CAROLINA 70, (5) UCONN 52: Ty Harris scored 19 points, Aliayah Boston dominated underneath and the Gamecocks (23-1) held the Huskies (20-3) to a record-low two points in the opening quarter on the way to its first-ever win over the fifth-ranked Huskies, in Columbia, South Carolina.
TOP 25: North Carolina State jumped to No. 4 in The Associated Press poll, its best ranking in 20 years.
The Wolfpack, who moved up three places, have their highest spot in the AP Top 25 since Jan. 10, 2000, when they were third. N.C. State has a huge game against No. 9 Louisville on Thursday night, when a win would give the Wolfpack a two-game lead in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
South Carolina remained No. 1, receiving 27 first-place votes from a 30-person media panel. Baylor stayed No. 2, getting the other three first-place votes. Oregon was a solid third.
UMAINE: Junior forward Maeve Carroll won America East Player of the Week honors for the first time and teammate Anne Simon was named the league’s Rookie of the Week for the fifth time this season.
Carroll had 19 points and 14 rebounds in a win over Vermont last week, and 24 points and 15 rebounds – both career highs – in an overtime win over Binghamton. Simon averaged 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.5 steals in the two victories.
ANNA DEWOLFE: The former Greely High star, now a freshman guard at Fordham, was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. DeWolfe scored a team-high 18 points in a win over Rhode Island and 12 points in a win at UMass.
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