Small-college players, teams savor Division I challenges

Ernie Clark, Special to The County
6 years ago

BANGOR, Maine — Alayne Felix admitted to some internal anxiety before stepping onto the Cross Insurance Center court for the Maine Maritime Academy women’s basketball team Tuesday evening.

The 5-foot-10 junior forward from Mahopac, New York, normally has no reason for any self-doubt. She scored her 1,000th career point in just her 58th career game last Saturday and as a reigning All-Maine and All-North Atlantic Conference first-team honoree is acknowledged as one of the top NCAA Division III players in the state.

But this particular challenge was different, with Felix and the rest of the Mariners facing a roster full of Division I scholarship athletes from the University of Maine.

“I was trying my hardest not to think about that,” she said. “Sometimes I can be a very in-your-head player and I did not want to do that at all. All I wanted to do this entire game was just play as hard as I could and not even think about my individual game.

Felix needn’t have worried too much from an individual perspective, as she scored a team-high 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field.

The County is pleased to feature content from our sister company, Bangor Daily News. To read the rest of “Small-college players, teams savor Division I challenges,” an article by contributing Bangor Daily News staff writer Ernie Clark, please follow this link to the BDN online.