PHOTO BY MIKE BROGLIO
Emily Doyle, a St. Mary’s product, has played a key role in Wheelock’s success this season.
By JOSHUA KUMMINS
Early in Emily Doyle’s career, the Wheelock College women’s basketball program was not in the best of shape.
The St. Mary’s product who hails from Lynn remembers being one of just six players available to play in games at times during her freshman year and finishing that season with just five players.
A four-year collegiate career moves in the blink of an eye ― and it’s winding down for the senior guard, but so much has changed, and for the better, in that time.
“I was lucky to be in a freshman class that was able to come in and build up the program,” Doyle said. “It’s amazing that me and two other girls (Jaime Grzych and Michelle Woods) that came in together have been able to make it this far in a program that people didn’t necessarily think was going to evolve.”
Contrary to what others may have believed, the Boston-based program did evolve. The Wildcats went 6-20 during Doyle’s freshman season of 2013-14, but raised their win total to 11 the following year and 18 last season.
With first-year head coach Rita Atkinson now at the helm, Doyle and the Wildcats are still competing. They have a 9-9 overall record, but stand 7-5 in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) with just seven games to play.
“It’s been a good season so far. I think we’ve adapted well to our new coaching and have been able to hang around the third or fourth spot in our conference,” Doyle said. “I hope we can build our way up as the season ends and make some noise in the playoffs.”
Doyle believes one of the biggest changes in the program over her career is the fact Wheelock is no longer an “easy” game on the schedule for opponents.
“It shows a lot for Wheelock to be able to make noise,” Doyle said. “We’re not going to be the team that people are going to come in and just walk all over. We’re going to compete. I think we’ve made a name for Wheelock, and I think it’s amazing.”
Doyle has been a key player since she set foot on campus, as she started in nine of her 15 games as a freshman. This season, she has played in all 18 games, starting the first five, and is averaging 3.5 points per game.
Atkinson is not new to the program after spending last season as an assistant coach. Her previous role smoothed out what can often be a difficult transition and gave Doyle and the rest of her teammates confidence in what they could accomplish.
“She’s more of a defensive player for us and is an incredible catalyst in that way,” said Atkinson of Doyle. “She brings a lot of energy to the floor and raises the level of our practices with her intensity and focus. She’s just a great person and really a role model for student-athletes on campus.”
Doyle tied her season-high with eight points on Saturday, shooting 3-of-7 as the Wildcats were 71-42 winners at Bay Path. Two days earlier, she hit a three-pointer in the first quarter of an eventual 58-57 loss at Becker.
“Not being in a starting role has never really affected me,” Doyle said. “When I go in the game, I just do as much as I can and really focus on the defensive end. I know that, no matter how many minutes I’m playing or if I’m starting or not, if I work as hard as I can I’m contributing in some way.”
No matter what individual statistics or the scoreboard read, Atkinson can always count on Doyle to pick up the team. And she never has to ask.
“She’s just constantly moving, constantly active,” Atkinson said. “Emily is one player you don’t have to tell to pick it up. She’s always going full tilt. … If you had 12 kids like her on the team, you’d stay coaching forever. You can’t say enough about the kid. She’s just a great, great teammate.”
With this her senior year, Doyle is hoping to go “full tilt” deep into NECC postseason play.
Names and notes
- The sixth-ranked Boston College women’s hockey team extended its unbeaten streak to 14 games last Wednesday after Lynn’s Katie Burt made 23 saves in a 4-1 win over Merrimack. Burt enters Tuesday’s Women’s Beanpot opener against archrival Boston University with 3-1-0 all-time record in the tournament after shutouts in wins over Harvard and Northeastern last year.
- Lynn’s Marcos Echevarria became the 28th player in Nichols College men’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point mark for his career as he hit a three-pointer with 47 seconds left in the first half of the Bison’s 104-85 win over Gordon on Saturday. Echevarria scored 14 of his eventual 22 points in the second half and recorded eight assists, seven rebounds, and four steals.
- Saugus native Mike Vecchione scored a goal and two assists in the fifth-ranked Union College hockey team’s 6-2 win at Clarkson on Friday. The goal was the 157th point of the Malden Catholic alum’s career, moving him into a tie with current Montreal Canadien Daniel Carr for first on Union’s all-time Division 1 scoring chart.
- Danvers’ Vinny Clifford shot 5-of-8 from distance and scored a career-high 18 points off the bench in the Endicott College men’s basketball team’s 100-59 win Wednesday night at Curry. Lynn’s Stephen Basden was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field and grabbed six rebounds in that contest for the Gulls, who are 15-4 overall and winners of three straight.
- Lynn’s Monta Connolly scored 14 points and added five rebounds, three assists, and one steal in the Framingham State University women’s basketball team’s 95-59 win at Salem State on Saturday.