Joanne P. McCallie is excited to bring her Duke University women’s basketball team to Bangor on Thursday to play the University of Maine, but she hasn’t had a lot of time to think about it.
Duke lost its season opener at Northwestern – McCallie’s alma mater – 84-58 Sunday, so when Duke plays Maine at the Cross Insurance Center at 7 p.m. Thursday, it’s a business trip, not a reunion.
Joanne P. McCallie
“You do really get engrossed in your own team,” said McCallie, who coached at UMaine for eight seasons. “I do have a great sense of pride for what Amy has accomplished.”
Amy Vachon coached the Black Bears to the America East Conference championship last season and a spot in the NCAA tournament. Vachon played point guard at Maine for McCallie, who won 167 games and led Maine to the NCAA tournament six times.
A Brunswick native, this is McCallie’s 12th season at Duke. She left Maine for Michigan State in 2000, and coached there for seven seasons, leading the team to the national championship game in 2005, where it lost to Baylor.
Last season, the Blue Devils went 24-9, falling to UConn in the Sweet 16. It was the 15th consecutive season a McCallie coached team won at least 20 games.
Thursday’s game is the fourth between Duke and Maine since McCallie took over the Blue Devils in 2007. Last season, Maine went to Durham, North Carolina, and lost 69-39. The teams played a home-and-home series in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, when former Maine standout player Cindy Blodgett coached the Black Bears. Each of those also was a lopsided Duke win.
In her eight seasons at Maine, McCallie led the Black Bears to seven straight 20-win seasons and six straight NCAA tournament appearances. Coaching standout players like Blodgett and Vachon, McCallie learned how to be a head coach.
“That was eight years of learning as much as I could, making mistakes and learning from them,” McCallie said. “I really liked our longevity. I just love all the players I coached. … There were such incredibly positive feelings of community (at Maine). The NCAA tournament runs were fun. I don’t think as a coach you forget those things.”
The Black Bears plan to honor Stacey Porrini Clingan, who died in March after a long battle with cancer, at Thursday’s game. A 1997 Maine graduate, Porrini Clingan was a key player in the Black Bears’ first runs to the NCAA tournament. Porrini scored 1,128 points, grabbed 929 rebounds and holds the team record for blocks in a game with seven. She was named all-conference three times, and McCallie expects to see a few players who were members of her first teams at Thursday’s game.
“It’s so nice they’re honoring Stacey at Thursday’s game,” McCallie said.
In September, McCallie returned from a health-related leave of absence. She spent the summer managing a chronic but not life-threatening kidney ailment.
“My health is good. My (kidney function) numbers are where I need them to be. I’ve been 100 percent since July 1,” McCallie said.
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