Monarchs’ Cindy Blodgett upbeat after coaching change

Cindy Blodgett has at least one connection to new Sacramento Monarchs head coach Maura McHugh: they both love Maine.

McHugh, it seems, tries to vacation on the coast at least once each summer after the WNBA season ends.

“Maura and I were just talking about this,” the Clinton native and former University of Maine star joked Wednesday. “I told her the pressure’s on. Now she has to play me or the people in Maine will get mad.”

McHugh was named head coach Monday after Sonny Allen resigned, and the change has brought a fresh air to the Monarchs, who are an inconsistent 6-6 this year.

Blodgett is pleased with the move.

“I think team-wise a change is always good, no matter who it is,” she said. “As a team we’ve been kind of underachieving and it’s like, OK, now we’ve got a clean slate.”

It shouldn’t take the Monarchs too long to get adjusted to McHugh, who had been Allen’s assistant since 1999. Blodgett said McHugh is the person that “everyone vents to.”

Blodgett has sought out McHugh for advice in the past.

“She always says, continue to work hard and your time will come whether it’s with this team or another team,” Blodgett said. “She’s a real honest person.”

Before joining the Monarchs McHugh had been the director of player personnel for the now-defunct American Basketball League and was head coach of the ABL’s Long Beach StingRays.

McHugh has a career head coaching record of 249-157. She has coached at Arizona State, Oklahoma and Penn State.

Blodgett doesn’t envision a trade for her in the works this summer because of the short WNBA season – the Monarchs have just 20 games left, including tonight’s 10 p.m. matchup against Houston (on ESPN2-TV), and it could take a player that long to learn a new system.

Blodgett said the team members were notified of Allen’s resignation through phone calls from general manager Jerry Reynolds.

“Sonny is a very, very good person,” she said. “I think we could sense a change in him. I think he was getting more stressed out.”

Now in her fourth year in the WNBA, Blodgett is averaging 0.6 points and 4.2 minutes per game. She’s coming off a fine season in a French league in which she was one of the top scorers.

Blodgett, meanwhile, is trying to stay optimistic about her lack of playing time.

“It’s not an ideal situation, but it hasn’t been ever since I’ve in the league,” she said. “I’m hoping in time it will. I refuse to sit on the bench and sulk and be a jerk about it. That doesn’t help the team.”