The University of Maine’s women’s basketball program has lost one player permanently due to injury but two others who have been dealing with knee injuries throughout their careers will return.
Guard Anna Kahelin and forward Abbe Laurence, both seniors, return with at least two years of eligibility remaining.
Kahelin missed all of last season and a good portion of the previous season and Laurence has been limited to 29 games over the past two seasons including just 12 appearances a year ago.
Meanwhile, 6-foot-2 forward Katie White has decided to end her career due to a lingering lower body injury. The loss of White leaves UMaine head coach Amy Vachon with 14 players on her roster. Vachon said she has no plans to bring in another player to replace White.
Vachon added that Laurence and Kahelin are “great” and ready to help the team.
UMaine opens the season at James Madison on Monday, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m.
The 6-foot-2 Laurence, who is from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, has shown promise as an aggressive rebounder and defender in her time at UMaine.
She averaged 2.1 rebounds while playing 10.6 minutes per game last season and 2 the previous year in 8.6 minutes of playing time. She also averaged just under 2 points per game.
She blocked 19 shots in those two seasons after seeing action in 11 games her freshman year.
The 5-foot-11 Kahelin, a native of Helsinki, Finland, was a solid defender and effective rebounder while appearing in 31 games her freshman year.
She suffered a season-ending knee injury when she was plowed into while shutting off a baseline drive in the 78-66 win over Vermont in the America East quarterfinals during the 2019-20 season.
She averaged 3.3 points and 2.5 rebounds that season while averaging 24.9 minutes per game.
She appeared in only eight games the following season and another knee injury sidelined her for all of last year’s campaign.
White played only 35 minutes in her two seasons at UMaine and finished with four points and four rebounds.
Earlier this week, Vachon said the past 11 months have been difficult for White.
“It is never easy to be in a situation where you are not physically able to be on the court. Katie has been a great teammate throughout her time away from the court,” Vachon said.
White is on pace to graduate in the spring of 2023 with an undergraduate degree in business finance.
