ORONO, Maine — Lala Woods’ University of Maine women’s basketball career got off to an impressive start a year ago.
She was a freshman guard and hadn’t played in the team’s first 11 games after missing her senior season at Wheeling Park High School in Wheeling, West Virginia, due to knee surgery.
Needing some supplemental scoring to complement America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith, UMaine head coach Amy Vachon sent Woods into the Quinnipiac game, and she responded with eight points in 14 minutes of a 63-55 road victory, including a pair of crucial 3-pointers.
She would go on to hit three 3-pointers in a 59-57 victory at Harvard and would finish the season as the team’s fourth-leading scorer, averaging 8.4 points per game over 21 games along with 2.4 rebounds, an assist and a steal. She averaged 32.7 minutes of playing time per game.
She averaged 11.2 points per game over her last six games and 4.7 rebounds over her last eight and was chosen to the America East All-Rookie Team.
Woods is the top returning scorer for this year’s Black Bears team after the departure of Smith, Asta Blauenfeldt and Sarah Talon.
That could certainly put added pressure on her, but she doesn’t see it that way.
“I’m excited. This is why I play basketball. I like the pressure,” said the 5-foot-8 Woods. “I’m confident in what I can do, and my coaches and teammates have confidence in me.”
Woods was second on the team a year ago in 3-pointers made (34) and attempted (112). She shot 42.2 percent on her two-pointers (27-for-64).
This year, she is looking to add an inside game to her range.
“Last year, I shot a lot of threes. I’ve been working on getting to the rim and finishing strong. I want to be able to score at all three levels,” Woods said.
“And I want to be able to play really well at both ends of the floor,” she added.
Vachon said she is looking for Woods to “take another step forward.”
“She was number three on the (opponents’) scouting reports last year, but now she will be number one on the scouting report,” Vachon said.
Teams began keying on Woods more at the end of last season, so it was tough for her to get shots off, according to Vachon.
“But she has had a really great offseason and has really worked on different aspects of her game,” Vachon said. “Hopefully, she will continue where she left off.”
“She has really proven herself to be a real threat in America East,” said UMaine senior center Lizzy Gruber. “And I think a lot of teams know that and will be coming for her, but she has that in her.”
Senior forward Kaliyah Sain never got to play with Woods a year ago because she tore the posterior cruciate ligament in her knee during the eighth game of the season and missed the rest of the campaign.
“I’m really excited to be on the court with her,” Sain said. “I didn’t have a chance last year. Playing with her in practice is fun. She brings a lot of energy, and she is a confident shooter. We trust her with the ball to do anything with it. She’s good to be around.”
Despite primarily being a 3-point shooter and perimeter player, Woods showed that she wasn’t afraid to mix it up in the paint, battling for rebounds.
“She does it all,” Sain said.
“Coach wants us all to rebound as much as we can,” said Woods. “Rebounds win games. You have to do that, too. I love to play and put on a show when I’m out there. I play with passion. It’s a game I love, and I go out there and give it everything I have.”
The Black Bears were picked to finish fourth in the America East coaches’ preseason poll due to the loss of their top three scorers, but Woods feels this team has a lot of potential.
“We lost three key scorers, but we have a lot of scorers people don’t know about,” said the former three-time all-state selection who scored 1,213 career points.
“Everyone is fighting for playing time. It’s going to be exciting to see what we can do this year,” Woods said.
The Black Bears, 19-13 overall last season and 61-43 losers to Vermont in the America East championship game, will open the season at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5 when they entertain Siena University on the Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gymnasium.