University of Maine women’s basketball junior guard Emmie Streams from Veazie found herself in a new role recently: starter.
The former Bangor High School three-sports star had appeared in 35 games through two-plus seasons at UMaine, all off the bench, before receiving her first start in a 69-46 victory over St. Francis in the Turkey Tip-Off Tournament at Iona last Saturday.
She started again in Monday’s 54-45 win over Boston University at the Memorial Gym in Orono.
Streams, a recruited walk-on, played a total of 18 minutes as a freshman while appearing in seven of UMaine’s 34 games.
Despite her lack of playing time, she was a valuable practice player as she intensely guarded UMaine’s starters to help them prepare for their next opponent.
Her unselfishness, work ethic and dedication to the team later earned her a scholarship.
She played in 22 of UMaine’s 31 games last season, averaging 6.6 minutes per game.
After getting a total of five minutes of playing time in UMaine’s first three games this season, she has averaged 20.4 minutes over the last five games. That included a career-high 32 minutes in a 64-54 loss to the University of Illinois Chicago in the Black Bears’ Turkey Tip-Off Tournament opener.
“It has been a lot of fun,” said the 5-foot-4 Streams, who is quick and tenacious. “I’m just excited to be out on the court with everyone and having them trusting me.”
She is not scoring much, just 10 points on the season, but that’s not her job.
“Emmie does the little things,” said UMaine head coach Amy Vachon. “She’s not out trying to score. She is in there to facilitate offense and really defend.”
She has had nine rebounds in her last five games along with seven assists and five steals. She had a career-high four assists in the win over BU. And she has turned the ball over just five times in 102 minutes over the five-game span.
“And she’s really smart, so she knows where the ball should go and how she should guard things,” Vachon said. “She provides a spark for us.”
Redshirt senior forward Adrianna Smith called Streams the “heart of the team” after the BU win.
“She always works hard, each and every day. She comes in and does what she needs to do,” Smith said. “She is so selfless. She doesn’t care whether it’s in practice (or in a game), she does the unseen things.”
Smith also called Streams’ defense “incredible” for the Black Bears.
“Whatever we get from her, offensively, is just extra,” Smith added.
Streams didn’t let her initial lack of playing time frustrate her.
“Coming in, you never know if you’re going to play at the Division I level,” Streams said. “So I knew I had to come in and work hard every day and if I got the opportunity, I had to make the most of it.”
She takes pride in her defense, saying “that really helps my team.”
On the offensive side, she said that shooting isn’t her role but she will catch and shoot if she’s open.
“My job is moving the ball and finding the person who’s open,” she said.
Streams feels she has improved every year and she is a more confident player now.
“I’ve learned the system and I trust the process,” she said.
Streams’ emergence has benefitted starting senior point guard Asta Blauenfeldt, according to Vachon.
Blauenfeldt will often assume the shooting guard role when Streams is on the floor.
“(Streams) gives us the opportunity to play Asta off the ball so she can get some looks she wasn’t getting as a point guard,” Vachon said.
Streams is more than happy to oblige in that role.
Jay Kemble, Streams’ former Bangor High School basketball and soccer coach, said it hasn’t surprised him that she has earned more playing time.
Streams was a Bangor Daily News All-Maine Schoolgirl second team selection her senior year when she averaged 9.6 points, a Class AA North-leading 6.6 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 3.7 steals per game for the Rams.
“She was always working. She was always doing something to make her better at her craft,” Kemble said. “A lot of times, in today’s culture, kids aren’t going to do something unless it was organized for them.
“She would do things on her own. She would go get a basketball and work on her ball handling. She would set up cones or chairs (and dribble around them). Or she would go get somebody to rebound for her so she could work on her shooting,” Kemble said. “And she was always in the weight room trying to get stronger.”
Streams and her Black Bear teammates will take a 3-5 record and a two-game winning streak to Philadelphia to take on the University of Pennsylvania’s 5-3 Quakers on Thursday at 6 p.m. before returning home to face Rhode Island on Sunday at 1 p.m. URI takes a 6-2 record into a Wednesday game at St. Joseph’s in Philadelphia.
