Kristen Curley (GHS ’17) continues to receive awards well into the USM Huskies off season. Most recently, she was named New England Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association (NEWBA) Rookie of the Year and named to the NEWBA all-rookie team. She has also been named D3hoops.com Northeast Region Rookie of the Year, Maine Women’s Basketball Coaches’ Association (MWBCA) Rookie of the Year and Little East Conference Rookie of the Year, adding to the many accolades she earned throughout the season.
Curley played on some incredible teams in her four years at Gorham High School. She was a part of two AA State Championship titles in a row (2015/2016 and 2016/2017). She considered herself a role player and was an exceptional shooter in the three point range. However, having been surrounded by some amazing talent throughout her high school career, Curley said she didn’t have much confidence in herself.
“As grateful as I am for how my high school career went, and as much as I loved playing with that team, I was excited to start with a clean slate. I was always eager to play a different role on a new team.”
Photo courtesy of Kristen CurleyCurley saw the opportunity in front of her, and prior to her freshman year, she hit the gym and worked to improve her game as much as possible. “In turn, my confidence was definitely higher going into pre-season basketball.”
The confidence certainly showed on the court as she played in all 27 games for the Huskies, averaging 16 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. She was sixth in the Little East in scoring and the top scoring freshman averaging 50.5% (168- 333) from the field and 39.7% (48- 121) from three-point range.
Curley plans to use the off season to get even stronger as well as working on all aspects of her game to prepare for next season. She is looking forward to becoming more of a leader as she gets older and gains more experience. “I would not really call myself a natural born leader but I am excited to get to work at that and get out of my comfort zone.”
She has some pretty big goals for the next few years, one of which is to win more games. However, her big goal is to be LEC Champions. “I want to be the best player I can be and make my teammates better in the process so we can go further than we did this past season and continue to improve.”
Having proven herself to be a strong player and emerging leader on the court, there is no doubt we will be hearing much more from Curley and her Huskies team, not only next season but in the seasons to come.