Freshman Jaycie Christopher is the first Miss Maine Basketball winner since Bracey Barker in 2003 to play for UMaine. Seth Poplaski photo/Courtesy of UMaine athletics
ORONO — Confidence comes in waves for Jaycie Christopher.
That was expected as the Skowhegan High grad plays her first season of college basketball for the University of Maine. After earning America East Rookie of the Week honors on Monday, Christopher’s confidence is on the rise and she hopes to keep it there.
“It’s been an adjustment, finding a comfort level and the pace where I need to play at. Being surrounded by such great players definitely makes the transition a lot smoother,” said Christopher, who scored 26 points with seven rebounds and four assists in a 88-60 win over Army on Sunday.
“I’ve always kind of been really hard on myself, so confidence definitely comes and goes. I’m just trying to limit the lows and feed off the highs, and just keep it rolling. Feed off the energy of my teammates and know they’re supporting me the whole time.”
Christopher, who was named Miss Maine Basketball after leading Skowhegan to the Class A state championship last winter, has played in all 11 of Maine’s games so far this season, averaging just over six points per game.
Against Army, the 5-foot-10 freshman guard shot 9 for 13 from the floor, including 7 of 10 from 3-point range, raising her season shooting percentage to .418 (23 for 55) from the field and .487 (19 for 39) on 3-point attempts. That was the most 3s made in a game by a Maine player since Kelly Fogarty sank a school-record 10 on Jan 3, 2021.
“It’s a process. She’s learning,” said Maine Coach Amy Vachon. “There’s no doubt what she can do on the court. She can shoot, she can score. For her, like it is for any freshman, it’s learning all the other stuff. How to guard different things, scout, (learning) what you can and can’t do at this level.”
Christopher is the first Miss Maine Basketball since Bracey Barker in 2003 to play for the Black Bears. Christopher initially committed to Boston University, but left the Terriers shortly after summer workouts began, citing a change in coaching staff from the one that had recruited her. Christopher transferred to Maine in time to begin the fall semester.
The loss of two starters changed Christopher’s role with the Black Bears. First, guard Anna Kahelin was lost for the season to a knee injury in the season-opening game at James Madison. Then, Anne Simon, the America East Player and Defensive Player of the Year, went down with an ankle injury in a Nov. 19 game versus Yale and hasn’t played since. Simon practiced Wednesday and should be back soon, Vachon said.
Jaycie Christopher celebrates after Skowhegan beat Greely to win the Class A girls’ basketball state championship on March 5. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer
Christopher started the first three games of the season, but Vachon tweaked the starting lineup when Simon went down, using Christopher as a spark off the bench . Christopher scored nine points in a reserve role in a 61-59 win over Northeastern on Nov. 21, shooting 3 for 3 from 3-point range. She scored a team-high 12 points coming off the bench in a 63-43 loss to Rhode Island on Dec. 4.
“We were playing a really tough schedule, and being a point guard as a freshman is hard enough,” Vachon said. “Then losing Anne, there was just a lot of stuff that was going on. So we just wanted to put (Christopher) in the best position and put our team in the best position to start games well, and we have.”
For the first time since Vachon became the head coach during the 2016-17 season, the Black Bears do not have a true point guard. Alba Orois, the starter the last two seasons, chose to play professionally back home in Spain, and Vachon has gone with a point-guard-by-committee approach. Christopher and sophomore Paula Gallego have seen most of the time bringing the ball up the court.
“It definitely has been different. It’s a work in progress. I think we have a lot of different kids who can do the job. We don’t have one pure point guard. In a way, that makes us a little more versatile and flexible,’ said Vachon, a former Maine point guard who holds school and America East records for career assists with 759. “Jaycie has played it, but in a different way. She had the ball (in high school) because she had to score all the time.”
In Simon’s absence, junior Caroline Bornemann has been Maine’s most consistent scorer, averaging 12 points in the eight games Simon has missed, including 29 against Army. Bornemann said she’s developing a good rhythm with Christopher. The duo combined for 62.5 percent of Maine’s offense in Sunday’s win.
“I think she’s great. She’s working hard,” Bornemann said.
Whatever her role is, be it at the point or shooting more, Christopher is ready to embrace it.
“It’s just the flow of the game. I got a lot of open looks. My teammates were able to get me open by setting screens or handoffs or in transition. It’s just a matter of making them,” she said.
“We have a lot of people who can handle the ball, so it’s whoever gets the rebound, just go and push the pace. It really allows us to do that, to push the pace in transition and find each other and get open shots.”
The Black Bears (4-7) have games at Harvard on Sunday and at Wisconsin-Milwaukee on Dec. 22. Maine opens America East play Dec. 29 at Bryant.
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