Wrist injury sidelines UM’s Barker

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As the University of Maine women’s basketball team practiced Friday and prepared for its trip to Philadelphia and Sunday’s game against St. Joseph’s, its star player was on her way back to Maine.

Senior Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor, who hurt her right wrist in a fall during Thursday night’s game at Holy Cross, returned to Orono to have the injury re-evaluated by a UMaine doctor.

Barker made an emergency room visit after Thursday’s game and on Friday was wearing a splint on the wrist, according to UMaine athletic media relations manager Doug DeBiase, who was only able to confirm she had suffered a wrist injury.

UMaine coaches and officials are prohibited by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act from commenting on student-athletes’ health unless the player has signed a waiver allowing such information to be released.

However, the physician on duty at Thursday’s game who examined Barker reportedly told her she might have broken a small bone in the wrist.

“Bracey and all that she does for our program on the court … I think everybody is just worrying about her and what’s going on with her,” said UMaine coach Ann McInerney.

Assuming Barker is out of action, at least for the short term, the 5-2 Black Bears will have to do some serious regrouping. The 6-foot-1 Barker went into Thursday’s game as the top scorer in America East with 17.8 points per game.

“She’s our pressure release. She’s such a versatile player. She’s a tough mismatch on the defensive end,” McInerney said of Barker, who had been UMaine’s leading scorer in each of its first six games.

She also leads UMaine in field-goal percentage (.594), free-throw percentage (.926), and blocked shots (13). Barker is averaging 5.6 rebounds and 2.4 assists.

“Barker’s a great player,” said Holy Cross coach Bill Gibbons. “We knew she was one of their keys, [that] we’d have to shut her down. I think when they lost her, they were kind of looking for her and [were] a little hesitant.”

The Bears did regroup somewhat in the second half and made a determined comeback attempt behind scrappy man-to-man defense. However, it wasn’t an adjustment, physical or emotional, that could be made right away.

“We need people to step up and when people don’t step up, that’s what happens,” senior co-captain Ashley Underwood of Benton said, referring to Thursday’s loss.

“We didn’t play as a team, we played as individuals,” she added. “It’s hard when you have a leader that goes down.”

UMaine got a boost from freshmen Amanda Tewksbury (11 points, three assists, two steals) and Abby Greene (four assists, one steal), along with junior Kris Younan (nine points). However, the Bears had difficulties with turnovers (22) and understandably lacked offensive cohesiveness.

Should Barker’s injury keep her out of action the rest of the season, it also likely will be career-ending.

The NCAA grants medical redshirts to student-athletes who have appeared in less than 20 percent of their team’s basketball contests. Barker has played in seven of UMaine’s 27 contests, or 26 percent of the season.

Husson to host first meet

The Husson College swim meet will host its first-ever home swim meet at 1 p.m. today against Regis College of Weston, Mass.

The Eagles of Bangor are looking for their first team win of the season.

“We are very excited to host our first meet,” second-year coach Krystal Lavigneur said. “We have had a solid start to the season with a number of our student-athletes gaining personal [bests] in the pool, we just have not scored very well in our meets.”

The Husson team features Maine swimmers Katie Vance of Harpswell, a co-captain; Jessica Kennedy of Pittsfield, and Katrina Huntley of Corinth.

Cameron Howard, who was the Eagles’ top performer last year, is not swimming for Husson this year because she is planning to transfer to Div. II Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers either next semester or next summer, her mother Cindi Howard said recently.

Cameron Howard, who was a standout Bangor High swimmer for Rams coach Cindi Howard, lost one race for Husson last year. She also set four pool records and three Great Northeast Athletic Conference records, along with three pool records at the GNAC championships.

The Regis team has three Maine swimmers, including Elise Doucette of Hampden and Chelsea Getchell of Orono.

Husson will also host meets on Jan. 20 and Jan. 27.

Seipp, Connacher fined for theft

Two University of Maine volleyball players each were ordered Thursday in 3rd District Court in Bangor to pay a $250 fine for stealing food from the food court in the Memorial Union.

Jody K. Connacher and Shelly K. Seipp, both 21 and of Spokane, Wash., were sentenced after pleading guilty to Class E theft.

The pair faced up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.

The two seniors were suspended from one match due to the theft earlier this semester.

Seipp, a 5-foot-6 setter, was named to the All-America East second team after leading the Black Bears with 10.2 assists per game and the league in service aces with 0.6 per game and 54 total. She was also third in digs on the team with 184. She was a first-team selection last year.

Connacher is a 5-6 libero (defensive specialist) who led the team with 3.8 digs per game and 359 total. She played in 94 games and 25 matches for the Bears, who finished 6-20 on the season.

Coffin named All-American

Bates College senior Meg Coffin was named to the Division III Women’s Soccer All-American team for the second straight year.

Coffin, a sweeper, anchored the Bobcats’ defense and added a goal and an assist last fall. She was also named First-Team All-New England by the New England Women’s Intercollegiate Soccer Association while teammate Kim Alexander, who tallied nine goals and two assists on the season, was a third-team honoree.

BDN staff reporter Judy Harrison contributed to this report.