By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

ORONO – There will certainly be a new look to the University of Maine’s women’s basketball team this season.

With three starters gone and a new coach heading the program, the Black Bears have a number of new faces in different roles when the club begins play Friday night against Rider in Lawrenceville, N.J.

“I think it’s been an exciting adventure so far,” said Maine coach Ann McInerney, who left Merrimack to replace Sharon Versyp in Orono. “The girls on the team are wonderful. They’re great kids and hard working. We’re taking our time and trying to get the players to gel, learn the new system and get them to play like the team we hopefully can be.”

The Black Bears graduated three of their top four scorers in starters Kim Corbitt, Missy Traversi and Monica Peterson. That’s an abundance of production and leadership to replace.

“It’s been different but in a good way,” said Bracey Barker, a junior forward and the top returning scorer. “We have a lot of young kids that we need to step up. It’s a learning experience right now, but we’ll be OK.”

Barker, a former Miss Basketball from Bar Harbor, had a breakout year last year and averaged 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds overall. Senior center Abby Schrader is the only other returnee with significant starting experience. She averaged 6.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last year. Juniors Ashley Underwood and Lindsey Hugstad-Vaa and senior Katie Whittier saw minutes last year but primarily off the bench. Sophomore guard Margaret Elderton returns but played in just 12 games and missed the rest of the year with a knee injury.

“I don’t think we could ever fill the role that those girls had,” said Barker, a third team All-American East pick last year. “They were amazing girls, but we need to come together more as a team this year. We don’t have those one or two standout players. We need to have everyone contribute each and every night.”

McInerney says she’ll look to Barker, Underwood and Schrader to lead the way with this young team. For the Black Bears to be successful, however, this group needs to play together and get production from a variety of sources.

“That’s kind of where our hope is right now – that they continue to improve individually, and we get better as a team,” said McInerney. “As much as we have eight returning players, we still have very limited playing experience. It’s been a process of just trying to get people to feel comfortable and confident and learning to play within the system and with each other.”

The Black Bears were tied with BU for second, behind Hartford, in the preseason American East poll. McInerney sees her team’s versatility as a strength. The Black Bears hope to be solid defensively, with a good post game but also with an ability to push the ball and shoot from the outside.

“We’re just trying to get them to play at a high level and play an all-around game,” said McInerney. “We have to play within the strength that we have now in the program.”

Maine won both preseason games with encouraging performances. Against the University of New Brunswick, Schrader had 18 points while Barker added 15. In a win over Stonehill, Barker, Underwood, Whittier and Hugstad-Vaa all scored in double figures. After going 20-10 overall last year, 16-2 in the conference, the Black Bears have a way to go to match that kind of success.

“Knowing what we lost to graduation and what we have coming back, everybody has to up their intensity level and everybody has to contribute in ways they haven’t in the past,” said McInerney. “We’re still trying to address people’s roles and find out where our strengths are and work out the kinks in the preseason to prepare us for opening night.”