Following a three-game losing streak, University of Maine women’s basketball coach Amy Vachon knew she needed more supplemental scoring to complement former America East Player of the Year Adrianna Smith.
The team had averaged only 47.3 points per game in those losses to Penn, Rhode Island and Fairfield and Smith scored 38.7 percent of the points. Despite being double and triple-teamed at times, Smith shot 48.8 percent from the floor while the rest of the team shot just 29 percent.
Enter Lala Woods.
The freshman guard hadn’t played in UMaine’s first 11 games while coming off knee surgery injury that sidelined her for her senior season at Wheeling Park High School in West Virginia.
The 5-foot-8 Woods had scored 1,213 career points, averaged 17 points per game and was a three-time All-State selection including two first-team nods in West Virginia.
So Vachon put her into the Quinnipiac game and she responded with eight points in 14 minutes of a 63-55 road win.
Woods nailed a pair of important 3-pointers.
She had 168 threes in three high school seasons.
She followed that with nine points on three key 3-pointers in a 59-57 victory at Harvard.
She was the team’s third-leading scorer in both games behind fifth-year senior Smith and senior point guard Asta Blauenfeldt.
“She can score. She can shoot the ball. And when she’s hot, she’s looking for it. We really needed that,” said Vachon, who rewarded Woods by giving her 26 minutes of playing time at Harvard after playing “big minutes for us at Quinnipiac.”
It seemed like Woods might be a potential redshirt candidate this season, but she worked hard to get back into game shape coming off the knee surgery.
“She wanted to play,” Vachon said. “She wanted to help the team.”
Woods passed a conditioning drill over a week before the Quinnipiac game and said she felt stronger physically and comfortable with Vachon’s system, and the offensive and defensive responsibilities that come with it.
Woods said she “definitely had nerves” when she took the court “because I hadn’t played in over 500 days.
“But I definitely had a lot of confidence, too,” added Woods, explaining that the coaches wouldn’t have played her unless they felt she was ready and could contribute.
Vachon said she and Woods had a lot of conversations leading up to her return to the court.
“It was a long time since she had played in a game. Before I put her in, I wanted to make sure she was good with it,” Vachon said. “She was really excited to be able to contribute.”
Woods said it felt “really nice” to be back on the court.
“It was long-awaited,” said Woods.
She was aware that the Black Bears needed some scoring punch and she said she has always been a scorer and someone who is “aggressive” offensively.
“Knowing I can do that, I was able to contribute in the scoring category,” Woods said. “But having Adi (Smith) out there also helps open things up for me, too, when I come off the bench.”
She said her knee feels good and she is looking forward to the conference schedule.
“We had a tough non-conference schedule that will help prepare us for the conference. I’m really confident and excited to see what we can do,” said Woods, who was nicknamed Lala by her older sister when she was young and it stuck with her.
Her real name is Ashlyne.
As for herself, she said she wants to “keep working hard every day” and improve.
“I want to win. I came here to win a championship. I’m going to have that mentality as does the team,” she added.
The 5-8 UMaine team will open conference play at UMass Lowell on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Smith will enter the UMass Lowell game as the league’s only player averaging a double-double. She is averaging 18.4 points and 10 rebounds per game. She leads the league in rebounding and is second in scoring and assists (4.6 per game).
Smith has seven double-doubles which is tied for seventh in the country among players at 359 Division 1 schools. She is tied for 26th in rebounds per game and tied for 44th in scoring.
Blauenfeldt is averaging 11.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals.
She is tied with senior guard Sarah Talon in steals per game. Talon is also averaging 6.3 points and five rebounds.
Transfer Kaliyah Sain is averaging 8.4 points and 4.8 rebounds but has missed the last five games due to a leg injury and her status is up in the air.
Vachon said her team is growing and she hopes the two-game winning streak gives them confidence.
“We want to continue to get better every day and gain confidence. We’re playing a lot of new kids and the more time they get on the court, the better they are,” Vachon said. “We’re taking it game by game.”
UMass Lowell, under first-year head coach Jon Plefka, is 5-7 and the five wins are already more than the previous two years when the River Hawks went 3-25 and 4-25. They were 5-22 three years ago.
They are led by Jaini Edmonds (12.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.7 apg), Hofstra transfer Sabrina Larsson (9.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg), Detroit Mercy transfer Paris Gilmore (8.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 2.8 apg) and Maddie Rice (8.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg).