As of Tuesday, November 28, PSU’s women’s basketball team had a record of three wins and three losses to start their young season. At the helm again is head coach Lauren Lavigne. The all-time winningest women’s basketball coach, Lavigne is now in her tenth season guiding the Panthers. She has had stops at both New Hampshire College and Endicott College but seemed to find her way back to Plymouth where she also had an outstanding playing career of her own that ended in 1994.
“This years team looks tremendous,” said Lavigne, “this group has been working since the day after our season ended last year. They are committed to getting on top of the Little East Conference. We’ve developed an identity, and are committed to getting there as a group.”
The Panthers are a fairly young group this year, with six upperclassmen and 11 sophomores and first-year players. Out of the group, Lavigne has picked four captains, senior guard, Joy DePalo, senior guard, Meg MacDonald, senior guard, Lauren Daniels and junior guard, Annie Alosa. “Annie Alosa is our vocal leader and the one who grabs them by the hand and gets the underclassmen to the weight room and gym for extra work. Lauren leads quietly and through her play, Meg Mac is the point guard/ quarterback of the team. Joy is a worker, says few words, and is our defensive stopper,” Lavigne said.
Lavigne went on to talk about the need for her seniors and top players to pick up the pace this season, “We need our three seniors, Lauren Daniels, Meg MacDonald and Joy DePalo to step out. Also coming off an LEC All Rookie season is Karly Gray, a sophomore. In the perimeter we have two pure shooters in juniors Annie Alosa and Kayla Morin.”
Under Levigne’s tenure, the Panther’s have a record of 133-110. She became the first PSU women’s basketball coach to lead the team to a 20-win season in the 1999-2000 and continued to have 20-win seasons from 2000-2003. She became the all-time wins leader in 2003-2003, after they had a 23-8 season.
Before she became a coach, Levigne was a four-year letter winner for the Panthers on the basketball team as well as captain for two of those seasons. She also played on the PSU softball team as a first baseman and earned All-New England honors during her softball career. While coaching the Panthers after her playing career, Lavigne said, “It’s the best! I am so proud to be a graduate of Plymouth State. It’s been 10 years in this current position and I wouldn’t change a second of it. I am so proud of the young women who have come and gone through our program and continue to get excited about the future.”
She says that the athletes themselves have attributed to all her success at Plymouth State. “PSU, student-athletes, and a love of the game…..for what it brings to many; the intangibles. The process you know all the stuff in between the games. As John Wooden preached, “It’s journey not the destination.” I don’t think about the wins and losses, my motivation is the student-athletes and assistant coaches that I get to work with each day. I get to give back to the place I learned so much from.”
The Panthers hope to continue their success this upcoming weekend as they travel to Western Connecticut on Saturday. Their next home game will be on Tuesday against Lasell. Game time will be at 5:30 p.m. in the Foley Gymnasium.