UMass Dartmouth senior co-capts. Katie Douglas and Melissa Gears lead Corsairs during 2000-01 season

(Dartmouth, MA) - While third-year head coach Lynn Sheedy will miss the contributions of her two senior co-captains from the 2000-2001 season, there will be a solid group of returning players to work with in tfuture women's basketball season at UMass Dartmouth.

The Corsairs posted an overall record of 5-17 for the season and a 2-12 mark within the Little East Conference. Despite the team records, however, UMass Dartmouth had several solid individual efforts throughout the season, especially the team leadership of senior co-captains Katie Douglas (Sharon, MA) and Melissa Gears (Rochester, NY).

In her fourth and final season with the Corsairs, Douglas had an outstanding season, leading UMass Dartmouth in virtually every category, while also earning several individual awards as well. The most significant award Douglas received was the UMass Dartmouth Senior Scholar-Athlete Award presented annually to the university's top senior scholar- athlete. Douglas was also UMass Dartmouth's ECAC Robbins Female Scholar- Athlete of the Year.

On the basketball court, Douglas led the Corsairs in scoring (13 points/game) and rebounding (8.3 reb/game). Douglas was also the team leader in field goals (101), assists (61), minutes (741) and steals (43), while she was second in three-pointers (20) and blocked shots (11).

In her second season with the Corsairs after transferring as a junior, Gears was close behind Douglas in most statistical categories. Gears finished second in scoring (11.71 pts/game) and third in rebounding (6.6 rb/game). She was also among the team leaders in field goals (90), steals (26), minutes (630) and blocked shots (11).

While the Corsairs will miss their two graduating seniors, Coach Sheedy brought along several younger players, who should be ready to move up in the future.

Among the underclassmen ready to take over the program are junior forward Carla Ferreira (Marion, MA), who averaged 6.8 points and was second in rebounds at 6.95 rebounds per game plus a team high 12 blocked shots. Sophomore guard and co-captain Jess Cummings (Middleboro, MA) demonstrated a scoring touch, averaging 11.23 points per game, third best on the team, and 4.09 rebounds per game.

A pair of first-year players made solid contributions during the 2000-01 season. Guard Jennifer O'Neil (Mansfield, MA) finished fourth in scoring, averaging 7.55 points per game, along with 35 assists and 21 minutes, while logging 517 minutes, fourth best on the team. Guard Lauren Johnson (Swansea, MA) averaged 2.45 points and 1.7 rebounds, while playing 403 minutes in 20 games.

UMass Dartmouth will also be looking for several other players to move into the starting rotation during the 2001-2002 season, including sophomore Rebecca Morse (Sterling, MA) (2.7 pts, 2.0 reb), junior Becky Mackey (Quincy, MA) (2 pts, 1.6 reb), and first-year player Amy Satkevich (Quincy, MA) (3.67 pts, 1.94 reb).