BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College Women's Basketball season kicks off this weekend as they travel to Maine for a three-game road trip. On Friday, October 29 Villa play against Maine Augusta for a neutral site contest at 8 p.m. The next day on Saturday, October 30 the Vikings take on the Central Maine Community College at 6 p.m. Villa will then wrap up the weekend with a Halloween battle against Southern Maine Community College.
Comeback From Covid
The Villa women's basketball team had their 2020-21 season shut down early due to battles with injuries and covid-19. They competed in just one game, after going 19-6 in 2019-20.
Jordon Wright and
Hannah Day are the only returners from the 2019-20 team, but they are not the only Villa veterans.
Chmicka Kennedy and
Leah McQuiller look to lead the team in their senior seasons.
Danyea Barclay was primed for a big first year at Villa, but after the shutdown, she will now aim to make in impact in the 2021-22 campaign.
The Vikings will have some new faces this year, which include juniors
Shaunessy Bennett,
Autum Adams-Edwards and freshman,
Cortinea Smith. This is a talented team and head coach, Mike McCarthy will hope to get off to a fast start against three tough teams.
Scouting Maine Augusta
The Moose played only five games last season and all in February and March. However, in the full season in 2019-20, they finished with a strong 14-9 record and advanced to the semi-finals of the Yankee Small College Conference (YSCC) tournament. Maine Augusta returns six players from that 14-9 team, including their leading scorers Madeline Suhr (17.5 ppg), Kaeti Butterfield (12.8 ppg), Sydney LeBlanc (12.8 ppg) and Hope Butler (12.6 ppg). The last time the two teams met was in 2018 and Villa came away with a 74-60 win over the Moose.
Scouting Central Maine
The Mustangs did not play in the 2020-21 season and they hope to replicate the success they had in the 2019-20 year when they made it to the United State Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) National Championship game, but lost to Penn State Beaver. It will be the first time the two teams meet since the USCAA semi-final game where Central Maine defeated the Vikings, 80-62. The Mustangs bring in a young team with 14 of their 16 players being first-year players and the other two being sophomores.
Scouting Southern Maine
The SeaWolves also did not have a 2020-21 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. They were coming off a 2019-20 campaign that finished with a 24-7 record and an appearance in the USCAA National Tournament. They lost in the semi-finals to the eventual champions, Penn State Beaver. Similar to Central Maine, Southern Maine has a team of 10 first year players and four second year players and hope to replicate their recent success.
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