The University of Southern Maine women’s basketball team, the preseason favorite to win a fifth consecutive Little East Championship, is on break until after Christmas, contemplating a disturbing 4-2 start.

“This is not where we expected to be at this time,” said Coach Gary Fifield. “We lost to a couple of good clubs on the road (Salem State by one and Eastern Connecticut by nine), but we’ve played a very tough schedule this first semester and we did beat Emmanuel 91-76, which was ranked No. 1 in New England.”

The team will return to campus after Christmas and spend three days practicing before heading for California and a 3-game road trip the team has been working 18 months to raise the funds for.

USM will play at Div. III University of LaVerne Jan. 3; California Lutheran University Jan. 4, a full-scholarship NAIA school; and Div. III University of California at San Diego on Jan. 5.

Back injuries suffered by 5-foot-9 senior forward Laura Pate of Saco and 5-7 sophomore guard Jen Pinette of Calais have caused Fifield to juggle his starting lineup.

He has put leadership responsibilities onto 6-0 sophomore center Katariina Pulkkinen of Helsinki, Finland, who has risen to the occasion and earned Eastern College Athletic Association Player of the Week honors.

Pulkkinen leads the LEC and the state in scoring with 22.3 points per game, leads the LEC in field goal percentage, 54.5 percent, and is second in rebounding with 11.5 percent.

Although injured and not playing 100 percent, Pate is still producing, especially from the foul line where she is third in the LEC with 73.3 percent. She’s shooting 47 percent from the floor and averaging 17.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

Fifield’s rotation “depends on what the other team is doing and what we need,” so 5-9 sophomore forward Jen Williamson of Hampden has been coming in for Pate and 5-8 junior guard Leslie Presby of Phillips for Pinette.

Also playing regularly is 5-4 sophomore guard Allison Gagnon of South Berwick, who is averaging 8 points and and LEC-leading 8.3 assists per game.

Fifield has given his team something to think about on break. “I told them we’ve been knocked off a couple of times and we can’t afford too many more,” he said. “We’ve got to be a lot more consistent. We’re bigger than most people we play with four players who are six feet or better, so it’s just a matter of getting used to playing together. We are a pretty new team. If I had a regular starting lineup it would be one senior and four sophomores.”

Then, of course, is the out-to-get-you factor.

“When you’ve always been No. 1, everyone is out to beat you,” Fifield said. “When Eastern Connecticut beat us they had everybody, even fans, out on the floor and they were falling all over each other. You would have thought they’d won the national championship.

“I told the team to remember the picture of the Eastern Connecticut celebration. That’s how important it is to beat us. Every game is a championship game (for the opposition) and that makes it tougher for us. But it should also make us better.”

USM’s roster includes 6-1 junior center Lynne Wheeler, Rumford Center; sophomores Amy Chessie, a 5-7 guard from Livermore Falls; 5-10 center Luann Calcagni, Winthrop; and 6-foot forward Lisa Cote, Sanford; and freshmen Kerry Eaton, a 6-1 center from Mapleton; 5-6 guard Kelly McAlinden, South Portland; and three from Winthrop, 5-9 forwards Ethel Struck and Anna Struck, and 5-4 guard Diane Blanchard.

USM Schedule: Jan. 3 at LaVerne, 7:30 p.m.; 4 at California Lutheran, 5:30 p.m.; 5 at UC-San Diego, 2 p.m.; 9 at Colby, 5:30 p.m.; 12 at Eastern Nazarene, 6 p.m.; 15 Clark, 6 p.m.; 17 Plymouth State, 5:30 p.m.; 19 at Southeastern Massachusetts, 2 p.m.; 21 at Husson, 5:30 p.m.; 24 at UMass-Boston, 5:30 p.m.; 26 Eastern Connecticut, 2 p.m.; 31 at Plymouth State, 5:30 p.m.; Feb. 2 UMass-Boston, 2 p.m.; 4 Bowdoin, 5:30 p.m.; 9 at Rhode Island College, 2 p.m.; 13 St. Joseph’s (Portland Expo) 5:30 p.m.; 16 Southeastern Massachusetts (Portland Expo) 2 p.m.; Feb. 19, 22, 23 LEC Tournament, TBA.