Reigning America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith and 2021-22 America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Anne Simon are having outstanding seasons for the University of Maine women’s basketball team.
But the team’s quest to win the league tournament and earn its first NCAA Tournament berth since the 2018-19 season could very well depend on the supporting cast, including senior guard-forward Caroline Bornemann.
The Black Bears, who went 7-7 over a difficult non-conference schedule, will open America East play on Thursday at 6 p.m. when they visit 0-12 UMass Lowell.
The 5-foot-10 Bornemann has been on a roll of late.
Over her last five games, she has averaged 12 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
She has shot 41.1 percent from the floor after shooting 34.8 percent over her first nine contests.
In her last game, UMaine’s 72-69 loss at Penn, she had 18 points and 10 rebounds which were both season-highs. She had her best shooting game of the season as she went 7-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc.
On the year, she is averaging 8.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
“She is really important to our team and not just scoring,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon. “When she does score it obviously helps because she plays so many minutes (33.6 per game) but her rebounding is critical on the offensive and defensive ends. She can create havoc rebounding the ball.
“She is so strong, defensively, she can guard both post players and guards. That gives us flexibility,” Vachon added.
Vachon also said it was “nice to see her hit shots the other day.
“She has worked hard on that,” Vachon said.
Bornemann said she feels she has had a decent season overall “but my shot hasn’t gone too well. I am going to keep shooting with confidence and hope they go in. Every time one goes in, you get more confidence.
“I get in the gym and work on my shooting and I’ve talked to [Vachon] about a couple technical things I can change up a bit. I put shots up while working with the coaches and I watch film. It definitely helps,” said the native of Horsholm, Denmark.
She said she hasn’t done anything specific to help herself during the five-game stretch.
“I let it come to me. It’s always a team effort. My teammates definitely help me,” said Bornemann.
When she isn’t scoring, she tries to find other ways to contribute.
“I try to help the team win in any way possible,” said Bornemann. “I’ll do the little things so we can win.”
She knows how vital it is to have all of them chipping in to complement Simon and Smith.
“It’s important everybody comes out ready to play physically and mentally,” said Bornemann. “It’s going to be super important for our consistency throughout the season.”
“Anne and Adi [Smith] have been amazing on and off the court and the stats they have been putting up night in and night out have been impressive,” said Vachon. “But it’s nice to see other players step up. We’ve had other kids step up all year. But to find some consistency there will be important as we get into conference play.”
Bornemann said the goal is to win the conference tournament and earn the NCAA berth but they have to take it “one game at a time. We have to do our best every time we’re in the gym practicing or playing games. That’s definitely a focus of ours.
“We’re all super excited to get going,” she added.
Bornemann said the challenging non-conference schedule was helpful.
“We played a lot of good teams and it definitely helps us get into our rhythm and get ready for the conference games,” said Bornemann.
They won’t take winless UMass Lowell lightly.
The River Hawks went just 5-22 a year ago but had a 10-point lead midway through the fourth quarter in their game in Orono only to have UMaine rally for an overtime win.
Even though she is a senior, Bornemann has another year of eligibility remaining because one of her seasons was a Covid-19 year so it didn’t count toward her eligibility.
“I’m planning to come back next year. I’m excited to have another year,” she said.
