The UMass-Boston Women’s basketball team kicked off the 2006-07-campaign in perfect fashion with two impressive wins in the UMass Boston Tip-off Classic at the Clark Athletic Center. The Lady Beacon’s took down Fisher College 65-34 in a rout lead by Lady Beacon Ashley Greene of Brookline, MA. Greene lead the team with 17 points and 8 rebounds in their Friday night romp over Fisher College. Senior Lady Beacon Denise Ridge also pulled down eight boards during the shellacking. Ridge missed last season due to injury and after an extensive rehab looked impressive in her return to the hard-court. Denise Ridge claimed that there was still some tenderness in her wrist, but nothing that was of any concern. Ridge said, ” I’m just happy to be out there (on the court) to help out my teammates. I know that this is a very important tournament for us and we would like to win this thing.” Coach Shawn Polk called Greene’s performance “impressive” and said “she showed a tremendous amount of leadership on the court.” Greene was more modest about her performance saying, ” I just went out (there) and tried my hardest. I knew the team would need me in a big way tonight and (I) gave it 110%.” Coach Polk felt that there were areas that the team could have improved on on Friday night, but was glad to see a w go up in the left column.
Saturday afternoon was a nail biter as the Lady Beacons edged out Curry College 78-70. LaKeisha Tucker, of Pawtucket, R.I., scored 19 points in the game, but nine of those points, including two clutch three-pointers, in the final 1:31 of the game to put the Lady Beacons ahead for good and secure the win for the Lady Beacons. Tucker earned the Tournament’s MVP award for her performance during the Tournament. Tucker was close to speechless after finding out she was named the Tournament’s MVP. Tucker commented on the feat by saying, “This is a great honor and victory not just for me but to the women’s basketball program here at UMass Boston. As a leader on this team, I feel that I have to set an example to all the girls on the team and tonight I feel I had accomplished that. I know that we (the team) have been working hard for years to gain respect in this league and I hope with this victory people will recognize our program as legitimate contenders.” Coach Polk commented on Saturday saying, ” What we lacked on Friday we made up for today. We definitely stepped it up during the game. We have more depth in some areas then in previous years, but there is still room for improvement. Tonight, we played well.”
The Lady Beacons then took on Fitchburg State on November 21 in a squeaker of a 56-66 loss. The Lady Beacons trailed most of the game to pull within one with 4:32 left in the game. Two huge fouls against UMass Boston and two clutch three-pointers from Fitchburg State’s D’Yana Delpero sealed the deal for Fitchburg State. Fitchburg State is number three in the country in perimeter offense and Coach Polk admitted that the Lady Beacons were having trouble protecting the perimeter. “Towards the end of the game our communications broke down and our transition defense suffered from that,” said Coach Polk. Lakeisha Tucker led the team again in scoring with 15 points on 7-18 shooting. Denise Ridge and Myrna Tanger both pulled down five boards for the team lead. The Lady Beacons, however, turned the ball over 24 times and ten of those came in the second half. Denise Ridge admitted that the team was not aggressive enough on both defense and offense. “We had too many turnovers and ended up beating ourselves,” said Ridge. Coach Polk also noted that it was early in the season and their next game against Eastern Connecticut would be more of a test to see how they stacked up against the competition in the LEC.