PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The early season for the Maine-Presque Isle women’s basketball team has been expectedly difficult. Starting the year without 70 percent of its offense from last season’s outstanding 18-7 season and losing USCAA First-Team All-American Olivia McNally to graduation, most would expect bumps along the road, but head coach Doug Carter has also been handcuffed with injuries and a roster filled with inexperienced collegiate players most of the preseason.
“At one point, we had more players with concussions than players available for practice,” noted Carter. “Even at this point, we have only had the ability to play five-on-five in games and once a week, due to NCAA restrictions. It’s just been extremely difficult with dual-sport athletes managing two practices, the injuries and more than half the roster being new to college basketball.”
The Owls will be led on the court by junior point guard Darby Toth and senior post player Rebecca Campbell. Strong leadership will also come from currently injured senior co-captain Brigitte Pratt, who is returning from a late-season ACL injury and played through pain to finish the Owls’ upstart season last year. She is looking at a January return to action, according to Carter.
Toth is an energetic dynamo and one of the nation’s most effective ballhandlers, finishing in the top five of USCAA players in assist-to-turnover ratio. Toth will be looked to score more this year, as will senior co-captain Campbell.
“I could not have possibly asked more from Darby, Rebecca and Brigitte,” Carter said. “We were shorthanded many practices, but those young ladies have constantly been vocal leaders and in our program. They teach and mentor the younger players. So much of college basketball is reading defense and adjusting to the tremendous athletes we face and those gals have been leaders from day one.
“I’m so impressed with their ability to lead our group in a constructive manner. They are tremendous young women, leaders and very impressive people on and off the court,” the second-year coach added.
Fort Fairfield native Sydney Churchill is back after an outstanding rookie season, as is Katie Patenaude, a junior swing player who will be used in multiple positions because of her intelligence and knowledge of the Owls’ offensive system. Churchill is a gifted shooter and second-leading returning backcourt scorer.
Also in the mix in the backcourt is junior newcomer Amanda Allen and freshman Brianna Losee. Allen provides the Owls with a solid shooting presence from the outside and Losee is a non-stop defensive nuisance who owns a quick first step. Sarah MacKenzie, a freshman swing player from Pugwash, Nova Scotia, is also progressing nicely and she adapts to the college game.
The post players are small, but agile. The 5-8 Pratt will add toughness and smarts when she takes the court in January and Carter has been very impressed with freshman Sara Packard, a late addition who is more known in high school for her softball pitching exploits for state power Nokomis.
“Sara has truly been a pleasant surprise,” noted Carter. “She is smart, tough and has been taught very well at Nokomis. She knows the game and we are asking her to really expand her game here at the college level.
“At this level, once you have mastered the skills, it’s all about confidence … we are working hard to make sure Sara gains both quickly to help our squad improve,” he added.
With a nine-person roster filled with inexperience, including five players new to college basketball, the early season has been a time for learning. The Owls lost two games to start the season at the UMass-Dartmouth Tournament to very strong NCAA opponents. But as with all works in progress, quality basketball takes time and perhaps the Owls saw glimmer of what is to come with a resounding 66-22 victory over Eastern Maine Community College in their last game.
“EMCC was 4-2 going into our game,” noted Carter. “We really did play good team basketball that night; we shared the ball and just played the brand of Owl basketball we enjoyed most of last year.
“We overachieved all of last year with a great group of young ladies who worked exceptionally hard and well together. And that is our goal, we just need to keep building and learning and getting better every practice,” he said.
Carter said that despite the depleted roster and early-season injury woes, he knows his players will not give up and that the UMPI squad will remain competitive.
“We have every intention of playing championship basketball within our program,” said Carter. “We need to continue to build toward that goal. The players in the program this year will be a part of the legacy we are building,” Carter said.
