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University of Massachusets Athletics
Women's Basketball To Open Up 1999-2000 Season
November 04, 1999 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 4, 1999
AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Massachusetts women?s basketball team is set to open up its 1999-2000 season with an exhibition contest on Saturday, Nov. 6, against a travelling team from the University of Latvia at 2 p.m. in the Mullins Center.
The Minutewomen finished second in the eastern division of the Atlantic 10 Conference last season with an 11-5 record, despite having been plagued with key injuries throughout the year. This year will be different, though, as the squad heads into the season healthy and ready to go.
"The team is ready to put on their uniforms and play against somebody else," head coach Joanie O?Brien says. "We have been doing a pretty good job in our practices. But we do have five freshman and two players, Kelly Van Huisen and Jaywana Bradley, who did not play last year. And then you throw in the fact that Caroline Nehls and Nekole Smith are only sophomores, and you get only three people who should have some idea of the intensity level we need to play with. But every day in practice we get a little better, and sometimes you just need to play. This game on Saturday will only help to get us ready to play with the level of intensity you need in a real game.
"The freshman are coming along, and we are solid where we need to be. We have great guards when they play together and we have great posts when they play together. So it is just a matter of putting all the pieces together."
And speaking of the guards, the Minutewomen return junior tri-captain Kathy Cohner (Belpre, Ohio) and senior tri-captain Alison MacFarland (Brick, N.J.) this season in the backcourt. Coyner started all 30 games for UMass last season and was the team?s second leading scorer with 11 points per game. She ranked second on the squad in three-pointers made with 33.
MacFarland was also a starter in all 30 games for the Minutewomen last year. She was fourth on the team in scoring with 9.2 points per game, while ranking second in free-throw percentage (.833).
Junior Kelly Van Huisen (Haverhill, Mass.) returns to the lineup after tearing her right anterior crucial ligament last season in the third game of the season. Van Huisen averaged 10.3 points and 3.7 assists during those three contests.
Senior Tonia Thomas (Seguin, Texas) and freshmen Kristin Cannon (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) and Ebony Pegues (Columbus, Ohio) will also contribute in the backcourt this season for UMass.
The Minutewomen will have a lot of youth in the paint this year, but also a lot of talent. Sophomores Nekole Smith (Ann Arbor, Mich) and Caroline Nehls (Randolph, N.J.) will be the likely starters for the Minutewomen down low. Smith garnered Atlantic 10 All-Rookie honors last season, averaging 12.3 points per game in conference play. She was the team?s fourth leading rebounder with 5.3 boards per game, and led the squad in blocks with 17.
Nehls was sidelined with a stress fracture in the middle of the season and finished the year averaging 4.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. She tallied a career-high 11 points and five rebounds versus Minnesota last season.
Coach O?Brien, who is in her ninth season at UMass, will have four other players to fill in at the posts, as well. Senior tri-captain Jaywana Bradley (Bronx, N.Y.) returns this year, in addition to freshmen Jennifer Butler (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Stasia Robinson (Keeseville, N.Y.) and Amber Sneed (Cincinnati, Ohio).
O?Brien isn?t too familiar with the Latvia Select Team, but knows it isn?t going to be an easy contest for her team. It?s just the first game of a competitive season for UMass.
"You know they are going to be big," O?Brien says. "You know they are going to pass the ball all over the place and shoot the ball from deep range. But it will be as good challenge for us, and we will certainly find out who is ready to step up for us.
"We may take some lumps early. We have some great games and challenges in front of us, but we need to be patient and realize that we are still are young. We need to keep plugging and getting through with them."
