By Jeff Griffith
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Caroline Dotsey could really only describe it with one word — electric.
The Maine sophomore and Haverford High grad had been waiting for the right opportunity to break out, after opening the season with 12 minutes or fewer in each of the first six games. Her team had, too, having started the year 2-4 while only breaking 60 points once in that stretch.
Caroline Dotsey (above) had a breakthrough in November. (Photo courtesy Seth Poplaski/Maine Athletics)
Finally, in an 87-75 win over Stonehill on Nov. 26 that saw the Black Bears score more than 20 points ahead of their previous season high — with Dotsey dropping a team-high 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting — everything clicked.
“It was awesome,” she said. “I mean, If I could describe any game as ‘electric,’ that's the one. It was just so much fun. The energy from our team was just insane; it felt like everything was going in.”
For Dotsey, that win was the culmination of more than a year of development and preparation.
But it was also just the beginning; in the two months since, the 6-foot-1 forward has averaged 13.3 points while playing 21 minutes per contest, compared to 3.8 ppg and 10.2 mpg in the previous six. She’s used the opportunities presented to her to cement herself among the Black Bears’ core of contributors.
“It’s definitely been a big jump for me,” Dotsey said. “I didn't see a lot of time as a freshman, and this year we've had some injuries, things have moved around on the team, and I've definitely had a bigger role to step into. So, I feel like I’ve really kind of made the most of that for this year.”
Against Stonehill, Dotsey described it as though she was continuously earning more minutes. Maine had experienced a handful of injuries to its roster, so she knew there would be an opportunity available, but wasn’t sure if that opportunity would end up being hers or someone else’s.
Minute by minute, she kept connecting on shots. With each make, it seemed as though her “leash” grew. Suddenly, she’d been on the floor for a career-high 23 minutes, more than double her previous high.
“I would hit a few shots, and then I would get a couple more minutes,” she said.
That night officially got the ball rolling on what’s been a successful “second-year leap” for Dotsey.
On the season, she’s averaging 10.7 points, three rebounds and 1.6 assists, while shooting 45.2 percent from the field. All of those are massive improvements from Dotsey’s freshman season; she checked in just shy of 1.0 ppg last year, making six of her 17 total field goal attempts in 78 total minutes.
Dotsey (above) is second on the Black Bears in scoring. (Photo courtesy Seth Poplaski/Maine Athletics)
Of course, the Stonehill game was by far and away Dotsey’s career-high — until recently. Dotsey raised the bar even further against New Hampshire on Jan. 30, pouring in 30 of Maine’s 65 points and connecting on 11 of 20 field goal attempts. She also tacked on three boards.
While Dotsey has improved, statistically-speaking, in essentially all areas, it’s ultimately the combination of those areas that she sees as her biggest asset in terms of development.
“I think my biggest thing is my versatility,” she said. “I think that's always been my biggest thing, but making that jump to the college level, I've definitely gotten a lot stronger and been able to display my range as a post player.
“And then,” she continued, “I think also just kind of having that game IQ of when to make certain reads and when to go down low and when to play out as a guard. It all has come together, so I hope to keep developing that to improve my game.”
There’s no doubt the entire Maine program has been excited to see Dotsey’s arrival. But perhaps not as excited as Dotsey’s younger sister, Haverford High senior Rian Dotsey. The younger Dotsey sister will be headed to the Division I landscape on her own this fall, as she’s signed with Saint Joseph’s.
“It’s been so exciting, I know she’s put so much work in, even from high school seeing her and then knowing what she’s doing at the college level, it’s so exciting to see her do so well,” Rian told CoBL.
According to Caroline Dotsey, despite minimal opportunity as a freshman, the thought of transferring to a school where she might feel her odds of seeing the floor were higher never crossed her mind.
She credited that to the culture at Maine; Dotsey said her experience on campus as a whole has been more than worthwhile.
“The community here, the people here, it's, it's such a great foundation,” she said. “Your experience at this school is so-well rounded, I couldn't give that up for anything else.”
And within the framework of that positive culture, her goal is, simply, to keep growing.
So far, that approach has paid off.
“Everyone's goal is to go as far as possible,” she said. “I think that stays the same for us; we have the same goals we've had all year. Personally, my goal is just to fill whatever role my team needs for me. That changes game to game, so my job is to adapt to that. And I just hope we can keep getting better, getting stronger as a team.”
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