Coach Amy Vachon’s UMaine women’s basketball team was named Monday the favorite to win the America East title in the annual preseason poll. Aaron Doster/Associated Press
Despite losing all-conference forward Adrianna Smith for the season to a knee injury, the University of Maine women’s basketball team claimed the top spot in the America East preseason coaches poll released Monday.
The Maine men’s team was selected fourth in the nine-team conference poll, behind defending champion Vermont, UMass Lowell and Bryant.
The Maine women received five of the nine first-place votes, edging Albany (three first-place votes) for the top spot. Binghamton, ranked sixth in the poll, received one first-place vote. The Black Bears went 24-10 last season, winning the America East title and earning a spot in the NCAA tournament before losing a first-round game at Ohio State.
Smith, the 2022-23 America East Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference player last season, was named to the preseason all-conference team. She was injured in practice early this month.
The men open the season Nov. 4 at Duke in a game that will draw national attention because of the college debut of Newport native Cooper Flagg, a Blue Devils freshman. The Black Bears, who went 15-17 last season, return guard Kellen Tynes, the two-time America East Defensive Player of the Year.
The Maine women open Nov. 4 at home against La Salle.
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