The University of Southern Maine Women’s basketball team is off to another fast start holding a winning record of 5-1(prior to press time), and is currently ranked seventh in the nation. On December 6th, the Huskies defeated Eastern Connecticut, then ranked number one in the nation, 73-59 on the road in Willimantic, Conn.
The Huskies began their season at the University of Maine at Farmington’s 2003-2004 Tip-Off Tournament. In the first round of the Webber Energy sponsored tournament, USM sank Coast Guard 66-28, advancing to the finals. In the championship game against the University of Maine at Farmington Beavers, the Huskies posted an 89-54 victory, earning the championship in the season-opening tournament.
The Huskies will receive important leadership this season from Senior guard Meg Cressler, Appleton, Maine/Camden-Rockport HS, who was named captain for the 2003-2004 season. Cressler, a two-time All-Little East Conference second team selection, has demonstrated remarkable growth throughout her career. Last year in the LEC tournament, Cressler earned the Most Outstanding Player award after tallying a career-high 24 points in the title game to lead the Huskies to a 73-61 win over Eastern Connecticut.
This season, the Huskies will also be led by four new assistant coaches. Mike McDevitt, Bianca Belcher, Jessica Libby and Jim Seavey were named to the USM women’s basketball staff on Sep. 20, a few weeks before the 2003-2004 campaign was set to begin.
McDevitt, former coach of St. Joseph’s College, tallied a winning record of 326-117 in 16 seasons as the Monks’ head coach. Belcher, a 2003 Colby College graduate, was a four-year member of the Colby women’s basketball team. Libby, a former USM women’s basketball team standout, played four seasons for the Huskies, and was named to the All-Little East Conference first team last winter. Seavey, who joined the staff as a volunteer assistant coach primarily for the preseason, will continue as the girls’ coach at Greely High School, in addition to his duties at USM.
Earlier in the season, Gary Fifield, the Huskies head coach, achieved his 400th career win as the Huskies beat Bates 84-61 at home. This victory upped Fifield’s career record to 400-72 (.847 W-L pct.). Fifield, a 17-year collegiate coach for USM, has led the Huskies to the last seven Little East Conference championships. He also led the USM women’s basketball teams to 20-or-more victories in each of the past 16 years.
“We are off to a pretty good start this year, standing 5-1 going into Saturday’s game against Western Connecticut,” (PTPT) said Fifield. Coach Fifield talked about the big win earlier in the season against Eastern Connecticut, and continued by stressing the importance of the win against Western Connecticut. “Our team goal for each and every season is to win the LEC tournament and to go on to a National Championship,” said Fifield.
The Huskies will travel to Phoenix, AZ at the end of this month to play at the Grand Canyon Classic. In January, USM will play a total of ten games finishing the month against LEC opponent Western Connecticut. The Huskies will play six more games in the month of February, before ending the regular season at UMass Dartmouth.
The LEC tournament kicks off on Feb. 24 with quarterfinal round games. The semifinals and finals will be held Feb. 27 to 28 with the champion receiving an automatic berth into the 2004 NCAA Division III National Championship tournament.