ORONO, Maine — Last season, in order for University of Maine women’s basketball coach Amy Vachon to give point guard Asta Blauenfeldt some time at the shooting guard position, she had to find a reliable point guard.
And she did.
In fact, freshman Olivia Alvarez from Spain became the full-time point guard, allowing Blauenfeldt to shoot more and become a more productive supplemental scorer. Now, as Thursday’s season opener approaches, Alvarez said she worked on her shooting over the summer and will be ready to take a shot if opponents leave her open.
“I have way more confidence than I had last year,” said Alvarez. “I’m going to be more aggressive. I need to know when people are open and make the right pass.”
Blauenfeldt’s 11 points per game, up from 9.7 the previous year, made her the team’s second-leading scorer behind America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith, who averaged 22.8 points per contest.
Alvarez averaged 29.6 minutes of playing time per game, fifth highest on the team, and was second in assists with 58 and tied for third in steals with 41. She averaged 3.7 points and 2.6 rebounds per game.
In three America East playoff games, she averaged 5.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal and had only four turnovers in 104 minutes of play.
“Last year was a great year for her,” said Vachon. “As a freshman, she played a lot and I don’t know if anyone expected that or if she was expecting it.”
Alvarez said she received a lot of guidance from seniors Smith, Blauenfeldt and Sarah Talon.
“They taught me how to play, especially in the hard [close] games,” Alvarez said. “I got a lot of experience from that. Now, even though I’m just a sophomore, I can try to teach the newcomers.”
Alvarez played well in a big role last year and handled it with grace, UMaine redshirt sophomore Maddie Fitzpatrick of Cumberland said.
“She has improved a lot over the offseason and will be taking on an even bigger role this season. And she has been handling it very well through the preseason,” Fitzpatrick said. “I’m excited for everyone to watch her play.”
“Her basketball IQ is really high,” senior center Lizzy Gruber of Gardiner said. “As a freshman, you can know what to do but you can’t execute it and do it at a fast rate. One thing Liv has mastered is being able to think fast.”
Alvarez is also an incredible defender, Gruber said, noting that adapting to college basketball during your freshman season is “really, really hard.”
Alvarez takes pride in defense.
“Ever since I was little, all my coaches told me I had to lock in (on defense). I would always guard the best player on the other team so I had to lock in,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez was both a shooting guard and a point guard growing up. She preferred being the point guard, she said.
Vachon’s offense is complicated, but Alvarez got used to running it over the course of the season.
“I pick things up quickly. It wasn’t that hard,” said the 5-foot-8 Alvarez, a native of Las Rozas de Madrid.
She joins an impressive cast of Spaniards who have played for Vachon, including two-time America East Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Blanca Millan, third team All-America East pick Alba Orois and all-AE Rookie Team selections Laia Sole and Paula Gallego.
“She is a great defender. She is the head of the snake on defense for us,” Vachon said, noting Alvarez is more comfortable with offense and defense.
“She is in charge of controlling the offense and deciding what we’re going to run and when we’re going to run it,” Vachon said. “She has really worked on her shot and her 3-point shot looks really good. She is finishing a lot better.”
But Vachon, a former standout point guard herself at UMaine and the school’s all-time assists leader, recently told Alvarez that scoring “shouldn’t be the first thing you think about when you step onto the court.”
“I told her some games you’re going to score two points and other games you’re going to score 15,” said Vachon. “It’s not always about scoring. Her job as a point guard is to do what the team needs.”
UMaine graduated its top three scorers from last year’s team in Smith, Blauenfeldt and Talon and was picked to finish fourth in the America East preseason coaches poll.
But Alvarez said she feels the team will surprise people.
“It is a different team but we have a lot of people who can do a lot of different things,” said Alvarez. “Everyone has their own role.”
She said they won’t have to rely on just one or two players to score.
“Everyone can score,” Alvarez said.
She is thoroughly enjoying her time in Orono, she said. She really likes her teammates and roommates and noted that they all “hang out together.”
“We’re having a really good time,” Alvarez said.
Alvarez and the Black Bears will open the season at 6 p.m. on Thursday when they host Siena College of New York on the Skip Chappelle Court in the Memorial Gym in Orono.