Maine women’s basketball enters playoffs as favorites

For the third time in four years, the Maine Black Bears (16-2, 13-2 AE) have clinched the top seed in the conference, losing to just Stony Brook and New Hampshire during the regular season. The team is led by redshirt senior guard Blanca Millan who will be looking to grab her second AE Player of the Year award. Millan is currently leading the AE in scoring with 21.7 points a game, and no other player in the conference has surpassed an average of 13.3 points per game.

The Black Bears are one of two teams to earn a bye in the six-team women’s bracket. The other is team that poses perhaps the biggest threat is No. 2 Stony Brook. The Seawolves (13-5, 11-3 AE) were set to host Maine in last season’s AE title game before its cancellation due to COVID-19. Heading into the tournament, the Black Bears and Seawolves are both favored to make it to the title game.

UMass Lowell headlines remainder of six-team playoff field

While Stony Brook and Maine will have the weekend off, the remaining four teams will compete in quarterfinal matchups to determine who they will play in the semifinals. The first game to take place game will be No. 3 UMass Lowell hosting No. 6 NJIT. The River Hawks (11-8, 10-6 AE) clinched the third seed for the second consecutive season, and they are led by sophomore forward Denise Solis who currently tops the AE in field goal percentage and averages 11.6 points per game. NJIT (4-13, 4-9 AE) is the newest addition to the conference, and the Highlanders benefited from two teams on pace to finish ahead of them ending their seasons early.

The other quarterfinal will feature No. 4 Albany and No. 5 New Hampshire. The Great Danes (6-10, 5-7 AE) swept the regular season series between these two teams, beating the Wildcats (5-14, 5-11 AE) by double digits in both games.

UMBC and Vermont share men’s basketball regular season title

The preseason favorites, UMBC and Vermont, will share the regular season titles. The two teams finished with identical conference records (10-4) after splitting their regular season series last weekend. UMBC (14-5, 10-4 AE) clinched the number one seed in the conference for the first time since the 2007-08 season, giving them home court advantage throughout the tournament. Vermont (10-4, 10-4 AE) had the highest scoring offense in the conference along with the least points allowed on defense in the regular season.

The Catamounts hosted UMBC in the 2018 and 2019 AE title games. The Retrievers won in 2018, prior to upsetting No. 1 Virginia at the NCAA tournament, but Vermont won the rematch the following year. The top two seeds are about as even as it gets, setting up the AE for several intriguing storylines in a possible title game rematch.

Seven teams to compete in playoff two pods prior to semifinals

As announced a few weeks ago by the AE, the first round of the playoffs will feature playoff pods hosted by the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds, beginning this Saturday. No. 3 New Hampshire will host No. 6 UMass Lowell and No. 7 Stony Brook. The Seawolves and River Hawks will play a first-round game on Saturday, with the winner advancing to play UNH on Sunday. The River Hawks are led by the conference’s leading scorer senior guard Obadiah Noel and will look to him to advance past the Seawolves. Stony Brook swept the series between the two teams back in December.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 4 Hartford will host No. 9 Binghamton in the first round, followed by No. 5 Albany taking on No. 7 NJIT. Albany and Hartford swept both season series during the regular season. The winners of the two games will play on Sunday.

The two teams remaining from each playoff pod will be reseeded and will travel to UMBC or Vermont for the semifinals.