Four of the top junior female basketball players in New Providence are of interest to Melissa Irvin, head coach of the University of the Cumberlands Patriots.

Alberta Russell, Ashley Moss, Malesha Peterson and Teniel Poitier are the players Irvin hopes to add to the team's roster next season.  Irvin and the Lady Patriots were in town for two days, playing in exhibition games with Bommer G Angels and a select team from the New Providence Women's Basketball Association (NPWBA).  These games gave coach Irvin an opportunity to scout the local talent playing in the league.

Although Irvin has only expressed interest in the quartet, NPWBA president Simone Beneby thinks that their chances are favorable.  She said hosting the college team paid off, and the players will reap the benefits shortly.

"It went fairly well.  I think that we match up pretty good against them, like we've seen most of our teams match up against international competition," said Beneby.

"I think the coach got a good idea of what The Bahamas has to offer.  As a matter of fact, she has made mention of several players that she is interested in.  The main goal was to expose our players to a high level of play on the collegiate part.  We want to see if we can get some of our younger players in the league, who are still eligible to play in college, placed with some of the better schools in the United States with little or no cost to them."

The Lady Patriots won both games they played in over the two-day period.  The team won a 30-point victory over the Angels.  Jessica Upchurch was the leading scorer for the Lady Patriots with 22 points and two rebounds.  Teammates Lauren Wombles and Jackie Alexander scored 13 points and 11 points respectively.

In the second game with the selected squad, which was mainly comprised of junior players, the Lady Patriots won 71-31.

Beneby said: "I am pleased and think it was a total success.  We definitely needed to do a little bit more, in terms of promotion and marketing; but overall, playwise, we did good.

"There are some things we are looking to do over the summer break.  We want to have some of the female college teams from the United States and probably the Caribbean to come down.  We are actively negotiating with some colleges to see who will be available at that time.  The more play we get, the better our players will become."

The NPWBA closed the first half of its season last Saturday.  The league will resume play the first week in January.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian