Versyp’s Black Bears battling sickness, injuries

The University of Maine women’s basketball has had a difficult time bouncing back from Sunday’s America East loss to Delaware. Not psychologically, but physically.

Coach Sharon Versyp’s 3-4 Black Bears have been trying to prepare for Friday’s non-league game at Rhode Island while fighting through illness and injuries. Not only has UMaine been hit with the flu, two team members could be missing considerable time.

That spells trouble for a youthful team made up of only 11 players.

Sophomore point guard Ellen Geraghty has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in her left foot. That is in addition to a case of “walking pneumonia.”

Geraghty, who ranks second on the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game and leads the squad in free throw percentage (.939), is expected to be sidelined for up to a month, Versyp said.

Sophomore forward Anna James, who injured her right hand during a fall in practice back on Dec. 1 in Texas, is scheduled to have the hand X-rayed again this morning to determine whether there is a fracture. The hand remains tender and did not allow her to practice Wednesday, even after sitting out Monday and Tuesday.

To make matters worse, a case of the flu has been making its way through team members since early last week. Senior co-captain Kizzy Lopez is starting to recover, but sophomore Christy Grover of Bucksport and freshman Heather Ernest of Temple both have been quite ill and have not practiced this week.

“We’re real sick and real hurt,” Versyp said. “We might have six or seven healthy bodies Friday.”

UMaine has been unable practice hard, as only seven players at a time have been healthy enough to participate. Versyp said she is unsure what Friday’s lineup will look like, but is hopeful the sick players will have recovered enough to see limited playing time.

“[Wednesday] was the first time that we tried to do anything to kind of get prepared for Rhode Island,” Versyp said. “The seven kids are working real hard. We’re hoping the other kids can come back and play some spotty minutes on Friday.”

The Bears were scheduled to leave Orono this morning and practice in Rhode Island later in the day.

“We have to try to get through this game on Friday,” Versyp said. “We don’t have much control over [the illness]. You do what you can and work hard.”

To make matters worse, the players are trying to prepare for next week’s final semester exams.

Bears autograph session off

The University of Maine’s men’s hockey team won’t be able to participate in an autograph signing session for the Toys for Tots and Teens program in front of the KB Toy Store in Bangor Saturday due to NCAA regulations prohibiting teams from affiliating with a particular business.

But toys can still be donated at Thursday night’s Maine-Massachusetts hockey game at Alfond Arena and the Bear players will make a donation to the program for underprivileged children that has been run by the Marince Corps Reserves for 53 years.

“It’s a great program and we definitely enjoy supporting it,” said Maine senior co-captain A.J. Begg. “Unfortunately, NCAA regulations will keep us from doing what we had planned. But we’re going to still try to help out by presenting them with a check or by buying some toys and we encourage people to support the program.”