ORONO – The world is different from what it was one year ago for University of Maine women’s basketball coach Joanne Palombo.

Today, Palombo sits in her Alumni Gym office and smiles a big smile as she looks at memorabilia on her wall. One gift, from athletic director Mike Ploszek, is framed clippings of her first college win.

“Maine women post victory” the headline from the Saturday-Sunday edition of the Bangor Daily News reads for the weekend of Jan. 16-17, 1993.

Maine was 0-9 going into a North Atlantic Conference game with Drexel before Palombo and her Bears earned win No. 1 56-50.

This week, Palombo and many of those same Bears are 11-5 overall and 4-0 in the NAC heading into home contests with Boston University on Thursday and Northeastern on Saturday.

“Wow, that’s right. It was almost a year ago plus a few days. That’s scary,” Palombo said. “My, how things have changed.”

Have they ever. Palombo is healthier and happier. So is her team.

“I think, last year at this time, I was very tired and very worn down but still very motivated by the players,” Palombo recalled. During that difficult season, she lost nearly 10 pounds.

“I was exhausted, mentally drained, wondering if my body could withstand those feelings. We were working so hard. I kept thinking something had to give. But we did get our just desserts in the end.”

The fact Maine made it to the ’93 NAC title game is a tribute to the hard-working coach and her team.

Maine had graduated four seniors who contributed 65 percent of its points heading into last season.

“When you consider we had just one person with any amount of playing time; young, inexperienced players thrust into starting roles; and a tough schedule, we did well,” Palombo said.

Her first season ended on an up-note at 9-20 after Maine shocked NAC opponents by winding up in the championship game against Vermont, then-ranked 17th in the nation.

“We were also fortunate to have the support of fans,” Palombo said. “The people who support Maine women’s basketball are very intelligent about the game. We didn’t have to deal with people harassing us.”

The schedule was a major factor in the early trials of Palombo’s rookie season.

“It would have been different if we played different teams,” she said. “Our losses were to highly respected teams like Boston College, Florida International, Mississippi, Rutgers, and Rhode Island. It was the perspective on that that kept the kids working so hard.”

Palombo knew, coming in, it would not be easy.

“I was well aware we were in big trouble,” she said. “You cannot look at Ole Miss, Florida International, and Rutgers and not go, `Oh, my God, what is gong on here?’

“But we were well prepared for the problems in pre-season and weren’t surprised. They worked hard and did a good job playing Top-20 teams, some with five seniors. It was just not in the cards.”

The coach’s husband, John McCallie, is a major source of comfort and support.

“I’m a lot a healther, and John has a lot do with that,” she said. “He makes sure I’m eating well and putting things in perspective. He’s been really understanding, as has the team and staff. We’ve used the experience. We went through so much as a team. We learned from that. We stored it back there somewhere and recognize it was frustrating being on that learning curve.”

Maine returned ready to play.

“The motivation and work ethic makes them a very enjoyable group to coach,” she said. “It is not a struggle every day to get effort. It is just a matter of putting all the pieces together; all of them contributing and doing their part.”

There is much about today that differs from a year ago, like the possiblity of being the first NAC team to automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament becoming a reality. The Bears are No. 2 nationally in team scoring defense and opponent’s field-goal percentage, the first NAC team so ranked. Maine ended Vermont’s 36-game win streak over NAC teams 52-40 earlier this month.

So Palombo has no trouble reflecting on the season past.

“I think I really enjoyed it,” she said, “although I know that sounds kind of funny. But I felt comfortable with what I was trying to accomplish.”

Perhaps the best part is, as discouraging as the first year could have been, the couple never felt they’d made the wrong decision moving to Maine.

“Some times are tougher than others,” she said, “but we always felt we had done the right thing.”

And Palombo felt she was doing the right thing molding and shaping a new staff and a new team. “We just had to give the players a chance.”