University of Maine junior Dor Saar is one of America East’s top point guards.
She was the league’s Rookie of the Year two seasons ago and a third-team all-conference choice last year.
This season, with the departures to graduation of Nos. 2 and 3 scorers Tanesha Sutton and Parise Rossignol, Saar looks to elevate her offensive output.
That quest begins at 4 p.m. Sunday when UMaine entertains Division II Stonehill College for an exhibition game at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
The 5-foot-6 Saar, who averaged 9.4 points, 4.9 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game last season, provided a glimpse of her scoring potential this summer. She averaged 18 points and shot 45.1 percent from the floor and 41.2 percent from the 3-point arc playing for Israel at the FIBA Under-20 European Championships in Kosovo.
“I focused on my shooting a lot and about [learning more about] basketball,” Saar said. “I worked hard this summer. I put a lot of shots up and I studied the game.”
Saar said she will be more aggressive in looking for opportunities to score, which also should produce more chances to set up her teammates.
Senior guard Blanca Millan, the league’s Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year last season, has noticed a significant improvement in Saar.
“You can really tell how [Saar] has improved her shot. She knows what she can do and she is more confident in her offense,” Millan said. “You’re definitely going to see her step up this year.”
Head coach Amy Vachon said UMaine needs more scoring from Saar since all-conference performers Sutton and Rossignol combined to average 27.2 ppg.
“She has shown the ability to do that here last year in some certain situations and also this summer with Israel,” Vachon said.
Saar actually shot better from the 3-point arc last season, hitting 38.3 percent of her shots compared to 34.2 inside the line.
“She’s super quick so she can get up on a defender real fast and take it to the basket or she can shoot outside,” Millan said.
Saar wants to do whatever she can to lead the Black Bears to a third consecutive America East championship and NCAA tournament berth.
“I’m focused on what I have to do to make the team better and make the players around me better,” Saar said.
The Black Bears are looking forward to Sunday’s exhibition game.
“It’s nice to play somebody else besides ourselves and to be involved in a real game to see if what we’ve been working on the past three weeks will show up in the game,” Vachon said.