Quick Facts: 2009-10 Record: 9-22 (3-13 America East)
Letterwinners Returning: 10
Starters Returning: 3
Newcomers: 2
Head Coach: Maureen Magarity (1st season)/ 0-0 career record
Entering the 2010-11 campaign, the New Hampshire Wildcats
women's program is certainly in transition. UNH is coming off a season in which
it finished 9-22 (3-13 America East) and lost its top scorer to graduation.
Despite bringing in some excellent talent to the program, Kristin Cole resigned
as head coach following three seasons in charge of the program. With so much change going on throughout the
program, the Wildcats enter the season as one of the great unknowns in the
America East.
Maureen Magarity took on the task of helping build this
program into a consistent winner. Magarity is the youngest Division I head
coach in the country, and she comes to UNH following four successful seasons at
Army, where she served as both an assistant coach and as associate head coach
during her tenure. While the task of replacing America East All-Conference Third
Team selection Candace Williams will not be easy, there is the expectation that
junior forward Denise Beliveau can help fill the void.
"She is just such a
talented player," the first-year head coach said of Beliveau. "She is such a
great leader on the court. She is a great teammate and she gets everybody going.
She is still battling a few injuries, but when she gets 100%, she will
definitely be one of our go-to players. She can step out as a guard, but we are
even thinking right now to mix her up inside and have her play a little bit of
the "4" spot. Defensively, she is very vocal and is always communicating and
helping her teammates out."
Having been a former post player during her career, Magarity
has been extremely impressed with the effort and improvement of senior center
Jill McDonald. Having an athletic and tough player in the paint is something
that the Wildcats will attempt to take advantage of throughout the season.
"As a former post player, I'm impressed with her every
single day," explained Magarity. "She is very mobile and athletic. She runs the
court as well as any post, or guard, I have seen. When she gets on the block,
her array of different moves that she has, both facing up and back to the
basket, every day I think she gets better. I'm really excited to see her, even
in the preseason, go up against some of these bigger name schools like Notre
Dame and Syracuse, because she has the size and is also a very mobile player."
Magarity will receive a huge boost to her team's backcourt
depth with the return of Kelsey Hogan and Abigail LaRosa from injury. Both
Hogan and LaRosa should be valuable members of the squad this season, as each
provides excellent versatility and skill on the perimeter.
"I think it adds a lot of depth to our 12-man roster,"
Magarity emphasized. "Kelsey has a load of experience. However, she has not
played for the last two years. She is a talented player who has a great
basketball IQ. Every day she is improving and she is such a great leader on the
court. She will be a huge impact player for us. Abigail is still doing a really
good job rehabbing her knee. Once she is a 100%, I think she is just so
naturally athletic and such a good defender and I think that is just really
going to help us."
The return of Hogan and LaRosa should be a huge boost for
this Wildcats team. With Beliveau and McDonald providing great scoring options
in the paint and on the perimeter, this team has some excellent options on the
offensive end. If this group can pick up the system Magarity is trying to
implement, which revolves around a motion offense, New Hampshire could surprise
a lot of people outside the program during America East play.