BIDDEFORD — There have been many milestones reached for the University of New England women’s basketball program under current head coach Anthony Ewing, but few compare to what Ewing’s Nor’easters achieved on Tuesday, when the team appeared on the USA Today Sports Division III Top 25 Coaches’ Poll for the first time in program history.
The Nor’easters entered the rankings at No. 25 with nine points, as voted by nine coaches in the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.
“I think we’ve been building toward this, we’ve been very successful over the last six years or so, and I think it’s nice for the kids to get the respect they’ve been working for,” said Ewing, “and I think it speaks for the program being in a good place right now.”
Ewing, in his seventh season at the helm, took the program to new heights last year, as the Nor’easters won a school-record 25 games and advanced to the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time ever.
At 18-2, and 12-1 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference, Ewing said his team is on track for the most successful season in school history ”“ even topping last year.
“Every game so far, just about, has been a grind and a battle. We have work ahead of us, we know that,” said Ewing. “We have lofty goals for ourselves. That remains to be seen, where we’re trending, I think, but I’d like to say trending up.”
The Nor’easters had their 32-game conference win streak ”“ which lasted nearly two calendar years ”“ snapped by Roger Williams in January. But UNE has bounced back to win six straight and will get another crack at the Hawks in the regular season finale at home.
“It actually was quite amazing, considering last year we started three freshmen. We were so young, and I didn’t think we’d be all that consistent. I thought we’d be good, but consistency I thought would be an issue,” Ewing said of the win streak. “We did have ups and downs, but they weren’t that great. We were pretty steady, and to keep winning those games when we were getting everyone’s best shot ”“ we still do get everyone’s best shot ”“ it’s just quite remarkable, actually.”
Two reasons for the Nor’easters’ success this season has been the play of junior forward Kelly Coleman and sophomore guard Lauren Hayden.
Coleman this week was named Player of the Week for ECAC Division III New England region, as well as by the Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches Association and the CCC. Coleman, who averaged 19.3 points in three games last week and leads UNE with 16.7 points per game, was honored for the fourth time by the MWBCA and second time in conference honors.
“Kelly is amazing. Being our leading scorer, by a lot, she gets a lot of attention. She gets crowded every game,” said Ewing. “She’s a unique player, in that even when she’s crowded, and it looks like she’s dead in the water, she finds a way to get a good shot up for her. Which for a lot of kids would be a forced shot, but for her, it’s a very makeable shot because she’s very unorthodox, and she’s tough to guard.”
Hayden, as of Sunday, led all Division III players in the nation in steals with 4.74 per game. She has recorded a steal in every game this season, including a season-high 10 in a win over Nichols on Jan. 11.
“Lauren is so disruptive defensively. She’s in passing lanes. She’s sneaky quick. She’s athletic, she’s a strong athlete, but she’s sneaky quick. She has very good timing, which you need to have,” said Ewing. “She doesn’t get a lot of her steals on the ball, she times it through passing lanes, and she’s very active. And she’s relentless; she’s going all out, all the time, and you have to have that kind of mentality if you’re going to lead the nation in steals.”
Ewing said Coleman and Hayden exemplify the kind of players that litter his roster, players that “have that mentality of ”˜You’re going to work and grind and not let up at all to win games.’”
Those players, under Ewing’s guidance, have the Nor’easters on track for another record-breaking season, even if, according to Ewing, they’re not there yet.
“We’re not really blowing people out. So to the kids’ credit, we’re still winning games. But we’re not a fine-tuned, well-oiled machine right now. We’re working it out,” said Ewing. “It very well could be (a special season). I told the kids the other day, when they’re playing really, really hard and really well, and they’re making shots, and playing with emotion and intensity, we can play with anybody in the country. And I firmly believe that.”
— Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.
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