Two University of Maine women’s freshman basketball players have entered the NCAA Division I transfer portal.
Five-foot-eight shooting guard and 3-point specialist Bailey Wilborn and 5-11 forward Penelope Castillo have decided to move on after one season at UMaine, according to the WBB Blog.
Wilborn got off to a promising start in her career, hitting four 3-pointers in three consecutive games in November and earning America East Rookie of the Week honors in the midst of that run.
Wilborn hit 15 of her first 42 3-pointers, which is 35.7 percent, but she struggled the rest of the season from beyond the 3-point arc, going 6-for-48 (12.5 percent).
Her playing time dwindled as the season progressed.
After scoring 38 points in those games against Yale, Boston University and Army, she scored only 23 points during her last 19 games.
The Wichita, Kansas, native finished averaging 12.5 minutes per game in her 25 games and 2.8 points per game.
She also had a total of 15 rebounds, five assists and two steals.
She would have had a difficult time cracking next season’s lineup because UMaine will have three All-America East guards returning in league Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Anne Simon, third team point guard Alba Orois and All-Rookie Team selection Paula Gallego.
And UMaine landed a guard transfer from the portal last week in St. John’s University’s Idan Shlush from Israel.
In addition, sophomore Olivia Rockwood had her playing minutes significantly elevated at the end of the season and Bangor Daily News Schoolgirl All-Maine first team guard Sarah Talon from Windham will be joining the program in the fall.
Castillo, who is from Montreal, appeared in 14 games and finished with a total of six points, three rebounds and a steal. She averaged 4.6 minutes of playing time in her 14 games.
UMaine went 20-12 overall this past season and captured the America East regular season title with a 15-3 record. The Black Bears lost to Albany 56-47 in the America East tournament championship game in Orono but earned a WNIT berth.
UMaine lost to Boston College 69-44 in the first round of the WNIT.
Three-time All-America East second team forward Maeve Carroll, who is a graduate student, is the only starter who is leaving.