The Bates College of Lewiston women’s basketball team is on the verge of celebrating a year of historic proportions.

Since the inception of women’s basketball as we know it today, just three players have surpassed the 1,000-point career mark.

This year, no less than three more players could reach that milestone: senior tri-captains Julie Roche, Amy Schragg, and Adrienne Shibles.

Currently 4-2 as they head into Christmas break, the Bobcats will not return to action until Jan. 9 when they host Thomas College at 5:30 p.m. The Bobcats first lost to Franklin Pierce, then to undefeated Tufts on a controversial three-pointer in overtime.

Roche, a 5-foot-10 forward from Milton, Mass., is having an excellent year, leading the team with 21.8 points and 10 rebounds per game.

She currently has 918 career points and should score her 1,000th point against Babson on Jan. 11 or Wheaton on Jan. 12. She is also second in assists with 13 and hitting 41 of 46 (89.1 percent) from the line.

Roche set several records for Bates last year, including her 20 points-per-game average that broke the record of 19.5 set 11 years ago by Shirley Averill MacDonald of Bangor.

Shibles, a second starter, is a 5-10 forward from Thorndike.

From that position, she leads the team in steals with 14, seven of which came in the season opener. That performance was just one short of her own record of eight in a game which she set two years ago. Shibles has 814 career points and is averaging 8.3 points and 8.8 rebounds per game.

Schragg, a 5-6 guard from McKinney, Texas, returns to the team in January after a semester away. She currently has 892 career points. She is the only one of the three, by the way, in which the three-pointer is a factor in reaching 1,000 points. Roche has just one in her career and Shibles none. Schragg can be credited with helping her teammates reach their milestones, however, since she is considered the best passer in Bates history.

The only starter besides Roche averaging double figures is 6-foot junior center Leigh Ann Smith of Woolwich, who has 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. She leads the team in blocks with 10.

Completing the current starting lineup is 5-foot-7 junior guard Cindy Ordway of Newport and 5-foot-6 sophomore guard Antoinette Kenmuir-Evans of Kittery.

Junior guard Jen Lynch of Rutland, Mass., and sophomore forwad Jodi Sturgis of Mechanic Falls are the only other letterwinners on the squad.

Two sophomores and one freshman who played on the Bates soccer squad that made it to the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament are in uniform for the first time.

Sophomores Julie Ludden of Howland and Janine Henry of Bennington, Vt., joined the squad with soccer teammate Jodi Widmer, a freshman from Manchester, Conn. Completing the squad are 6-foot freshman center Karin Tanona, Marlborouogh, Mass., and 6-foot-1 freshman center Alyssa VanDuizend of Falls Church, Va.

Six-year head coach Marsha Graef’s team was 14-8 last year and lost just one player to graduation, so Graef is looking for a tournament invitation when the regular season ends. –

In other Bates news, junior soccer star Colleen O’Brien has been named to the second team National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III All-America team by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

One of just two players from Maine and of only seven from the New England region to be so honored, O’Brien was instrumental in the Bobcat’s 11-1-2 season which came to an end in the semifinals of the ECAC tournament.

A midfielder, O’Brien had seven goals and three assists for 17 points, second on the squad. Twice during the season she had 2-goal games.

This is the third post-season honor for O’Brien. She was also named to the NSCAA All-New England first team and the New England Women’s Intercolegiate Soccer Association first team.