The Maryland women?s basketball team?s schedule lists the Terps? season opener Friday as a road contest against Middle Tennessee State. The game, though, is anything but an away game for guard Ashleigh Newman.
A 5-foot-10 junior from Shelbyville, Tenn., Newman is quite familiar with the Murphy Center, the home court of the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro, about 30 miles from Newman?s hometown. She played a number of games at the arena while leading Shelbyville High to three state titles.
While most of the fans expected to fill the Murphy Center will be pulling for Middle Tennessee State, which has won the Sun Belt Conference the last three years, to upset the defending national champions, Newman expects a fairly large contingent of friends and family there to root on the Terps.
“There are definitely going to be a lot of people there,” Newman said. “If there are 10,000 people at that game, I?m sure I?ll know 8,000 of them.”
Making the game even more intriguing for Newman, who averaged 7.7 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists last year, is the relationships she has with those on the Middle Tennessee State roster, including forward Krystle Horton and guard Whitney Tate, whom Newman played with in middle school and high school, respectively. And Middle Tennessee?s coach, Rick Insell, was Newman?s high school coach at Shelbyville.
Newman said she doesn?t expect a warm welcome from her former coach and teammates once the game starts.
“We discussed the game a little bit this summer, and he?s just as excited about it as I am,” Newman said.
Insell said he is proud of his former player and expects her to make even more contributions for Maryland over the next two years.
“I?ve known Ashleigh and her family a long time, and she is very deserving of all the accomplishments she has earned,” Insell said.
Like many college basketball coaches, Maryland coach Brenda Frese tries to schedule games that represent homecomings for players on her roster. Another this season is the Terps? Dec. 10 contest against Temple in Philadelphia, the hometown of forward Laura Harper. Coincidentally, Frese will have a homecoming of her own when Maryland plays Dec. 6 at Northern Iowa.
“Pretty much for every player that comes to Maryland, we try to take them home to play against the school closest to their hometown that agrees to play us,” Frese said. “With Middle Tennessee State being in Ashleigh?s hometown, along with her high school coach being the coach there now, I couldn?t think of a better scenario for her.”
The Newman File
» Newman finished last season with a .359 3-point shooting percentage, including a game-tying shot near halfcourt in an upset at UNC.
