Monday, Nov. 4, the University of New Hampshire women’s basketball team returned to Lundholm Gymnasium ready to change their reputation after a rough 2023-24 season.
After a devastating loss to end their season, the women’s basketball team completely rebuilt their staff and brought in five new players, countering the loss of two seniors and two who entered the transfer portal. The new coaching staff includes assistant coaches: Joe Rutigliano, Kennedi Thompson, Alexa Brodie, and Jessica George, led by head coach Megan Shoniker. The five new players are: Eva DeChent, Sydney Lusher, Elizabeth Lavoie, Carly Catania, and McKenna Karlson have shown great promise. Catania and Karlson were not able to play against Worcester State.
The ‘Cats started with a strong lead in a short run, scoring seven points and keeping Worcester State at zero. In this run, DeChent threw a three-pointer, which would be the first of her 18 points of the night. This was a career-high for DeChent, compared to a previous record of nine points at the University of Rhode Island where she transferred from.
“It feels great to be playing again. I feel like this is a new start for me and I’m very excited to continue the season,” said Eva DeChent, a sophomore transfer.
UNH had two steals in the first quarter, one from Lavoie and the other from Sharmela Reid, each leading to a fast break layup, one made by Lavoie and the other from DeChent. To end the first period, Clara Gomez gained an offensive rebound for a second-chance layup she scored. Gomez ended with 12 total rebounds, which will start her new season high while her career high will stay at 15.
“She [Coach Shoniker] emphasized both offensive and defensive rebounds (for me)…I try to give second chances to the team as much as I can,” senior forward Clara Gomez commented.
The second period started with UNH’s highest-scoring run, which included multiple impressive plays from the ‘Cats. It started with Avery O’Connor grabbing a defensive rebound which led into a three-point shot. This was followed by Lusher stealing the ball, allowing the team’s captain, Kenzie Matulonis to score a fast-break layup. Two times in a row Matulonis stole the ball and scored a fast break layup.
“To come out and produce the first game back is exciting. Personally, I’m just doing whatever it takes to get my team to where we need to be and to get those dubs,” said Matulonis.
The ‘Cats scoring was briefly paused when Worcester State’s Mia Haynes scored the only three-pointer by the team. The run ended with Lucia Melero Sabat, who grabbed a defensive rebound, allowing Lusher to score a three-pointer. The period ended with another high-scoring run starting with another three-pointer from DeChent. This was followed by an offensive rebound by Sabat, where she scored with a second-chance layup. The run and half ended with Matulonis throwing the ball in play to DeChent with one second left on the shot clock, where she made the layup.
The second half started quiet for the ‘Cats. During a seven-point run, UNH had only one score, a free throw by Maggie Cavanaugh. Worcester State attempted to close the gap, with the third period being their highest-scoring of the four. They had one layup and five free throws for seven points.
“Worcester State played really, really hard. I think they helped prepare us in some ways, but by no means is there going to be any easy wins from here on out,” said Shoniker.
This Worcester State scoring run ended after three minutes with Sabat stealing the ball and gaining a fast break for a jump shot. Matulonis responded shortly after with her own steal, setting up Sabat for a layup. She then had another steal, leading into a fast-break layup.
“Kenzie was really a spark plug for us. She gave us a boost off the bench, especially defensively,” said Shoniker.
Lavoie had her own steal also leading into a fast break layup. Of the 12 points Worcester State scored in the third period, six of them were from free throws and the rest came from three layups.
The final period began with a defensive rebound from Worchester States’ Sophia Faginski, allowing Alana Smith to score a layup. Cavanaugh responded right after with the three-pointer. Cavanaugh was also credited with a steal that led to Sabat gaining a jump shot. Halfway into the period, the ‘Cats went on a two-minute run starting with Cavanaugh’s defensive rebound that led to O’Connor gaining a three-pointer. Reid contributed a free throw in this run, which was followed by her getting a defensive rebound that allowed Lusher to get another three-pointer. The rush ended with DeChent stealing the ball for a fast-break layup.
The game ended with Karolina Andersson sinking a three-pointer to cheers from the crowd, as the ‘Cats’ season started with a win.
“I think it’s important to have momentum against those big teams because we are the underdogs,” said Gomez.
The team will be back at Lundholm Gymnasium on Saturday, Nov. 16, against Boston University. This game can also be watched on ESPN+.
