Last week, I wrote an article about the upcoming basketball season. However, I made one huge mistake in that article. That mistake was that the players I mentioned are no longer a part of the team and have since graduated. Because of this, I owe you a proper apology and a new article about the team.
It has been a whole year since UMass Boston has hosted a basketball game due to COVID. However, this is soon to change. I don’t know if you can tell through this recyclable newspaper, but I am super excited for the season to finally start. I am so excited that I will be driving all the way to Babson to support them next month in their second game.
Honestly, I am not sure what to expect. I am a sophomore, which means that I have never actually been to a UMass Boston basketball game yet. However, I know that it will be exciting. The women’s team has recently started to practice, meaning at the start of the season they will be ready to compete.
The last time we saw the men’s basketball team play two years ago, they went 16–11 which isn’t terrible, but a portion of the players on that team have graduated or are just no longer on the team. While this will be UMass Boston’s first season playing since February 2020, other teams in the Little East Conference had a shortened season just last year: UMass Dartmouth, Keene State College, Eastern Connecticut State University, Rhode Island College, Castleton University, and Plymouth State University. Each team played a different number of games, UMass Dartmouth and Keene State played 10 games while Castleton only played one. The championship game ended up being between UMass Dartmouth and Keene State where UMass Dartmouth absolutely dominated with a 40-point win.
UMass Boston only faces UMass Dartmouth two times, once in January and again in February, so the Beacons will have plenty of time to prepare. UMass Dartmouth might have a slight advantage having played a short season last year, but we should have enough time to prepare for that match up.
The men’s first game is an away game. It will be on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 5 p.m. against the United States Coast Guard Academy. Their first home game is going to be on Wednesday, Nov. 17 against Bridgewater State University.
The last time we saw the women’s basketball team play, they dominated and went 21–7. Last time the women’s basketball team played, they were also coached by the great Kristina Baugh who led the team to 25 wins in the 2017-2018 season.
This year, they will have a new coach in Heather Jacobs, and she will have to face the challenge of coaching a roster of mostly new students. They will also have to face the same schools in the LEC who played a shortened season last year, all except Eastern Connecticut. For the women, however, the school to look out for is Rhode Island College. They went 11–0 and went on to win the championship. UMass Boston will face them once in December and once in January.
The women’s first game is also an away game. It is on Monday, Nov. 8 against Brandeis University, time is TBA. Their first home game is on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. against Mitchell College. Home games for both the men and women will be in Clark Athletic Center.
Make sure to follow the men’s basketball Instagram page @umassbostonbasketball and the women’s basketball team @umassbostonwbb.
Looking forward to seeing everyone there. GO BEACONS!