Copyright The Boston Globe
While the UMass roster remained largely unchanged, the schedule underwent major renovations with the university’s move to the Mid-American Conference over the summer. It doesn’t change much for Leflar, who said he’s focused on the day in front of him, rather than the months ahead. “There’s really good basketball, really good coaches in the MAC,” the third-year coach said. “I’m excited for some new challenges.” Senior forward Megan Olbrys, a three-time Globe All-Scholastic at Norwood, will anchor the lineup. She averaged 14 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, recorded eight double-doubles, and led the Minutewomen with 447 points and 262 rebounds across her 32 starts last season. Leflar, who has been with UMass since 2018, recruited Olbrys out of high school, but the versatile forward began her college career at Villanova. When Olbrys hit the transfer portal following her sophomore season, Leflar was quick to jump on the opportunity. “Her ability to influence her teammates, to be a leader by example, but also to continue to grow as a vocal leader, has been really nice,” Leflar said. “It’s been a nice journey for me to be a part of with her.” Harmoni Turner was the talk of the Ivy League last season, winning so many awards her bio page on the Harvard website reads like a novella. The 2025 Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year — among countless other accolades — Turner was drafted 35th by the Las Vegas Aces and is now playing professionally in France, leaving big shoes to fill on the Crimson’s roster. Coach Carrie Moore is confident her team won’t skip a beat, as she continues to emphasize a culture of defensive intensity. “I honestly think with the size and the versatility, the length that we have, we can honestly be a better defensive team [than last season],” she said. The challenge comes on the offensive end. Turner led the team in scoring (22.5 ppg), assists (98), and was third on the team in offensive rebounds (54). Replacing her offensive production will be a tall task, so Moore will rely on her team’s depth. “To have 16 bodies, and to be able to go that deep in the bench and to sub and to have everyone understand the system and be able to compete at a high level, I think is going to be pretty game-changing for us,” said junior forward Abigail Wright, a Globe All-Scholastic at Newton North. “I think it can be anybody’s night on our team, any given night, which for me, is exciting,” Moore said. Boston College returns just two players from the 2024-25 season, but among the newcomers is a player with an NCAA championship on her resume — in lacrosse. Emma LoPinto, a two-time All-American on the Eagles’ storied lacrosse team, will hit the hardwood as a graduate student. She stands just 5 feet, 4 inches, and hasn’t played basketball competitively since high school, so LoPinto has been getting mostly scout-team reps in the preseason. Still, her national championship mentality brings an infusion of energy into a BC roster picked to finish second to last in the loaded ACC. “When she does a drill, she’s trying to beat everybody, so she brings that feeling out, and now everybody’s trying to beat everybody, because she just ups that level of competitiveness,” coach Joanna Bernabei-McNamee said. The Eagles looked competitive in a preseason exhibition game against reigning national champion UConn, and graduate transfer Teionni McDaniel led the way with 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting in the Eagles’ 84-67 loss. “It was such an early game that you can’t put a lot of stock into what happened in that game, but you can put stock into how hard your team plays,” Bernabei-McNamee said. The eighth-year coach is optimistic that her team’s low preseason ranking is a result of opposing teams not knowing what to make of the Eagles’ revamped roster. “Our transfers are a little bit more of the unknown, and I think that could be where we could be a little bit of a dark horse,” she said. “But I also think it can be rewarding to maneuver out of the underdog position.” Maureen Magarity is a hard act to follow. Magarity, the Holy Cross coach from 2020-24, went 72-41 at the helm and guided her team to Patriot League titles in 2023 and 2024. The Crusaders even found themselves in the national spotlight when they faced off against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 NCAA Tournament. When Magarity stepped down in August 2024, Candice Green took over as the interim coach and led Holy Cross to a 19-12 record and a spot in the Patriot League semifinals last season. Green dropped the interim tag this offseason and is entering her first season as the permanent coach. The Crusaders, led by senior guard and preseason All-Patriot League Team selection Kaitlyn Flanagan, are ranked fourth in the Patriot League preseason poll. Flanagan, a two-time captain, averaged 9.7 points and 5.2 assists per game last season. Entering their fourth season in Division 1, Stonehill has established itself as a contender in the Northeast Conference, and were picked to finish second in the conference behind defending champion Fairleigh Dickinson. The Skyhawks are coming off a 17-16 season, including an 11-5 mark in conference play, that earned them the program’s first trip to the WNIT, where they lost to UMass in the first round. Boston University enters the season returning four starters from a season ago, as well as seven of its top eight scorers following the graduation of standout guard and top scorer Alex Giannaros (Brockton, Tabor Academy) … Yirsy Queliz, a graduate of St. Mary’s who has represented the Dominican Republic on the international stage, is expected to star for Northeastern once again. The 5-4 guard is entering her junior season with the Huskies and has averaged 8.8 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game … UMass Lowell begins the season under a new coach, as Jon Plefka took over the program in April following a stint as an assistant at Stony Brook and seven years as a coach in Division 2. The River Hawks finished last season 1-15 in conference play and 3-25 overall … Merrimack is coming off a 14-17 season (9-11 in conference play) and was picked to finish eighth of 13 teams in the MAAC preseason poll. Thalia Shepherd, the Warriors’ top scorer from last season, transferred to Towson in the offseason.
