Freshman Libby Underwood checked into her team’s game against Drexel last week midway through the third quarter and gave a four-minute glimpse of the future.
She quickly scored inside. A couple minutes after that, she got fouled and made both free throws. She later grabbed a defensive rebound and was back on the floor to start the fourth quarter, in a game her William & Mary team would lose in overtime.
“I told her a day later, the Drexel game was terrific,” said William & Mary coach Ed Swanson, “but the two practices she had before the Drexel game were two of the best she had all season.”
Underwood, who graduated from Portsmouth High School last spring as the program’s all-time leading scorer with 1,253 points, is in the process of carving out a niche for herself on a good William & Mary team, one that brings a 12-5 (3-3 Colonial Athletic Association) record into today’s game at Northeastern (2 p.m.).
“Of course I would love to get on the court more,” she said. “But I’m humbled being part of this winning program and playing with all these girls.”
She’s played in 16 of the team’s 17 games, spelling senior Jenna Green at point guard and junior Bianca Boggs at off-guard, getting about seven minutes and two points a game.
“I don’t foresee her as a point guard,” said Swanson, “but we have her there as a necessity because we’re thin at the position.”
The Tribe are coming off a 20-win season that matched the most wins in program history. They reached the semifinals of the CAA tournament for the first time in 16 years and were picked third in this year’s preseason poll, behind James Madison and Elon.
“Libby’s hit the program at the right time,” said Swanson. “I look back, and if some of these freshmen would have come in my first year, they would have had a lot more minutes.
“She's improving leaps and bounds each practice; she really is. The last two weeks she’s had terrific practices.”
Like any freshman, Underwood is adjusting not just to college basketball, but to college life in the historic town of Williamsburg, Va., where a drop-dead gorgeous campus is nestled right alongside the historic Colonial district.
“Everything is different,” noted Swanson. “Being away from home is different, the food is different. … I think all of our freshmen are hitting their groove a little bit.”
“The physicality,” said Underwood, asked about her biggest adjustment. “Everyone plays so physical on every play, and you have to be on your feet and thinking.”
Continuing to work on her defense, which her coach described as “average to above-average,” will improve her chances to stay on the court going forward. In each of Swanson’s first four seasons, the Tribe led the CAA in steals.
The 5-foot-9 Underwood made her debut in a season-opening win at Howard in Washington, D.C., back on Nov. 11. She checked in three minutes into the game and got to play about 3 1/2 minutes before being subbed out.
“I don’t know how to explain it; it was just really jaw-dropping,” she said. “You dream of playing Division I basketball all through high school, and then you get in and you’re out there on the court.”
Against Northeastern, Underwood will find herself across the court from another Seacoast standout. Former York High School star Shannon Todd is a sophomore starter for the Huskies (8-9, 3-3 CAA), averaging 11.7 points, fourth-best on the team.
Underwood, who also played AAU ball with NH Elite, and Todd both played offseason ball for the New England Crusaders, but didn’t have a ton of interaction.
“We’d have weekend workouts in the fall and spring, and we’d be in the same gym,” said Underwood, “but we haven’t really played against each other.”
She’s also keeping tabs on her former team. Portsmouth improved to 7-0 with its win against Goffstown on Friday
“I keep in touch with most of them,” she said. “Great start for them and a lot of girls are chipping in.”
Some of them will be in the stands at Cabot Gym in Boston on Sunday, along with Underwood’s father, brother, grandparents, teachers and others.
“It will kind of be like being back home,” she said. “It will be great to see all the people who supported me through high school and helped me get to where I am now.”