Clark eager for return to Alfond Maine to take on UNH

As a youngster, Danielle Clark enjoyed some fun times at the University of Maine’s Alfond Arena.

Her travel team played during halftime of a UMaine women’s basketball game when she was 12. And she spent four or five seasons as one of the Black Bears’ ball girls.

Tonight, Clark will run onto the court at Alfond Arena intent on beating the Black Bears – as a freshman on the New Hampshire women’s team.

Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.

Clark, a three-time NEWS All-Maine, first-team pick at Nokomis High in Newport, will have lots of family members and friends looking on.

“It’s gonna be weird,” Clark said Tuesday afternoon. “I know so many people that are coming to watch me play.”

Clark, a 6-foot forward, quickly earned a spot in the New Hampshire starting lineup. She plays forward but has 3-point shooting range, which has helped her average 25.1 minutes per game for coach Sue Johnson’s Wildcats.

Clark is averaging 6.8 points per game, third on the team, on 35 percent shooting and also has contributed 3.9 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.0 steals.

“I’m not expected to score a lot of points, but I am expected to score when I’m open,” she said. “Sometimes I guard the other team’s quicker forward.”

Clark is one of six freshmen playing for UNH, where she has found a new home.

“I really like it a lot,” she said. “I feel more comfortable here and I like all my teammates.”

Clark would have seemed a natural UMaine recruit, but at the time, the Bears weren’t looking for a 6-foot inside player.

“They [UMaine] didn’t really recruit me that much until the end of my junior year summer,” Clark explained. “Everybody thought I was too small to play Division I in the post.”

Clark has significantly improved her ballhandling and shooting range the last couple of years. New Hampshire proved the right fit.

“I always felt like anybody from Maine who was any good wound up going to Maine,” said Clark, who didn’t take it personally that she wasn’t one of the Bears’ top recruits. “It kind of bothered me, but not really that much.”

On their way to Orono, the Wildcats stopped at Clark’s home for dinner. Her mother, Kim Clark, who is a cook at Husson College in Bangor, prepared lasagna, chicken, rice and salad for the whole group.

“Our favorite [part] is dessert, brownie sundaes,” Danielle pointed out.

Tonight, Clark faces a UMaine squad that includes former AAU teammates Ashley Underwood and Bracey Barker. She expects it to be an exciting and nerve-wracking evening.

“I’m not nervous right now, but come [Wednesday] when I run out there I probably will be a little nervous and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Clark said.

“It’s gonna be fun to come play in front of everybody,” Clark said. “I just want to play well and play how I can play.”