Maddie Hasson has been a 1,000-point scorer at both South Portland High and Bowdoin College. A senior, she is averaging 17.4 points this season for the 11-0 Polar Bears and shooting nearly 70 percent from the field. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer Buy this Photo
BRUNSWICK — The splint is on the right pinky finger, the shooting hand of Bowdoin College senior forward Maddie Hasson.
She insists it’s no big deal. Hasson, who wears the splint after practice, dislocated the finger on Nov. 26, in a 72-46 win over the University of New England. It’s healed but wasn’t quite right so they’re trying to straighten it out.
Again, she says, it’s no big deal. Then you look at the statistics for the Polar Bears (11-0), who enter Tuesday night’s home game against Husson University ranked third among the nation’s NCAA Division III teams. Hasson, the former South Portland High star, leads Bowdoin with a career-best 17.4 points per game. She’s also shooting a career-best 69.3 percent.
With a finger on her shooting hand that isn’t right.
Beyond the scoring, she has emerged as a leader on Bowdoin, a role Coach Adrienne Shibles said the 5-foot-11 Hasson has grown into.
“I’ve seen her grow dramatically as a leader, I’ve seen her grow dramatically with her fitness,” said Shibles, in her 12th season as Bowdoin’s head coach. “She’s worked very hard to get a step quicker, and stronger. And certainly her confidence has grown as her role on the team has been enhanced. She’s just phenomenal.
“She’s a point guard playing in the post. She can do it all. She can handle the basketball, can shoot it, can post up. She finishes exceptionally well at the rim … She just does it all for us.”
Last week, in a 93-81 win over Chapman in Orange, California, Hasson scored a career-high 37 points, including the 1,000th of her Bowdoin career. Her mother, Lynne, the South Portland High coach, flew out to be there.
“It was awesome that she could make the trip,” said Maddie Hasson, who now has 1,027 career points. “I really appreciated it.”
There was no way Lynne Hasson, who coached Maddie when she scored her 1,000th point for South Portland High, was going to miss it. “It was pretty special,” said Lynne Hasson, who was there with her sister and a niece.
Maddie Hasson was named New England Small College Athletic Conference player of the week Monday for her efforts, where she averaged 20.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals over three games.
Bowdoin College women’s basketball coach Adrienne Shibles says she has seen Maddie Hasson ‘grow dramatically as a leader.’ Derek Davis/Staff Photographer Buy this Photo
When Hasson, a Miss Maine Basketball finalist who scored 1,111 career points in high school, was looking at college choices, she wanted to go someplace where she would get a good education and also had a basketball program that was consistently competing for championships.
And the one place that could offer both was Bowdoin, which has played in the Division III championship game each of the last two years.
“There are some things you can’t know when you’re looking for colleges,” she said. “And in those ways, Bowdoin has exceeded everything, in terms of the community here, in terms of the values that the program has instilled, in terms of the connections I’ve made with my teammates and coaches. I think I ended up getting lucky.”
“I can’t begin to tell you how perfect it’s been,” said Lynne Hasson. “It’s by far been the best four years of her life.”
And it’s still not over. The Polar Bears are young, with three freshmen getting plenty of playing time, but Maddie Hasson sees something special. Asked if she thought this team could make another run at a national championship game, she said, “Yeah, for sure … With the competitive group we have, we’re not going to set goals for anything but the best. We’re young, but I think we will hit our stride at the right time. The potential for this team is as great as any team I’ve been a part of.”
And Shibles said the leadership of co-captains Hasson and Samantha Roy, is at the heart of it. “It’s their leadership and consistency,” she said. “Those things have been the foundation on which we’ve built our success this year.”
Hasson is studying economics and education. And don’t be surprised if she follows her mother into coaching. Moira Train, a junior guard from Cumberland and Greely High (who shares an off-campus apartment with Hasson, Roy and junior Dorian Cohen), said Hasson is very much a coach on the court.
“She notices the little things, not necessarily things that other people might notice,” said Train. “Sometimes she’ll talk to you after a play and say, ‘I think you can defend the ball screen better; why don’t you try this?’ And she’s really experienced in knowing how to push someone and make them better.”
Both Shibles and Train said Hasson always puts the team first. “She just wants the team to be successful,” said Train.
“She is the consummate teammate,” said Shibles. “And that’s a deadly combination. She’s a rare talent but also a rare teammates. She’s selfless to the core.”
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