Handling her game
Christian returns to form for Merrimack
Diamond Christian was in a slump.
The Merrimack senior guard had returned from ankle and knee injuries in December, but up until mid-January, she was averaging just 2.9 points per game for the Warriors. So in addition to film study with assistant coach Emily Taylor, Christian started meeting with her older brother, Dontae, on Zoom several times a week.
The pair would sign on at midnight for their special sessions, where Dontae, a former Eastern Connecticut State basketball player, would break out Diamond’s game film and discuss her footwork and mental approach to every play.
“He told me something I was doing wrong was I wasn’t looking at the rim each possession,” Christian said. “I wasn’t getting enough form shots in, so a daily part of my day now is literally just [practicing] form shots, because that’s what I was probably missing.”
With her coaching staff and her brother’s extra help, Christian has averaged 11.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.9 steals per game since Jan. 14. The 5-foot-5inch guard symbolized the Warriors’ year to date with both her injury-plagued struggles and dramatic resurgence.
Merrimack started the season 1-12. Since dropping its first three Northeast Conference games, the Warriors have gone 6-2 and rattled off five wins in their last six contests, including three wins without leading scorer Marissa Hamilton, a 6-foot senior forward from Great Valley, N.Y.
“Recently, we’ve just figured out how to be resilient through the next obstacle, because nothing has been just consistent and in flow,” said Merrimack women’s basketball coach Kelly Morrone.
The Warriors have been repeatedly marred by injuries. Along with Christian, Kaylee Thomas, a 5-9 senior guard from North Chelmsford, and Alana Fursman ,a 5-10 senior forward from Pittsford, N.Y., have missed multiple games with injuries, and Hamilton was sidelined for nearly a month with her own ankle injury. At one point during Christmas break, the team was practicing with just six players.
It didn’t help that Merrimack faced a daunting nonconference schedule, including games against Notre Dame, a top-10 national opponent from the Atlantic Coast Conference, as well as Southern Cal and local powers including Boston University, Harvard, and Holy Cross.
“It becomes overwhelming because the competition never lets up,” Morrone said. “I think that whole thing lended itself to say, ‘This is why our practices need to be this difficult.’ ”
Christian sprained her ankle on the first day of practice Sept. 1, then picked up a knee injury on her road to recovery, and did not debut until Dec. 7. Known for being a quick-twitch player on both ends of the floor, Christian found it hard to regain confidence in her movement skills.
Her biggest learning experience came in Merrimack’s biggest loss, a 108-44 thumping against Notre Dame. Christian was playing poorly in her second game back and expected to get the hook early, but Morrone kept her on the floor.
“I appreciated that, because that’s how you get a feel for the game,” Christian said. “It brought more confidence to me. I started to feel more comfortable.”
In her return from injury, Christian has grown into her largest role with the team. She’s started her last 12 appearances, received more than 11 more minutes of playing time per game, and was designated as the primary on-ball stopper on defense.
“Defensively, I have to be able to guard one on one,” Christian said. “I have to rebound the ball. I have to be in those passing lanes and stuff like that.”
By the time conference play arrived, the Warriors had overhauled their practice intensity. Christian said she typically leave Merrimack practices exhausted.
“I don’t know that it would have been as dramatic of a shift if we didn’t have that really tough schedule,” Morrone said. “I don’t know that the internal mechanism would have switched on for everybody to say, ‘I didn’t come this far just to come this far.’ We want to make waves and be impactful in this conference.”
Merrimack, 7-14 overall, sits fifth (5-5) in the nine-team Northeast Conference. Christian still schedules her latenight film breakdowns with Dontae every other day. She and the Warriors are attacking games with a new hunger and spirit, and they don’t plan on letting up anytime soon.
“Anyone can see that it went from hard to fun real fast,” Christian said.
Winning ways
Boston University (16-6) is 11-0 in Patriot League play and on an 11-game winning streak. The Terriers eclipsed 100 points for the first time since 1987 in a 100-57 rout against Loyola Maryland at Case Gym on Saturday . . . UMass (19-4, 9-1 A-10) is riding an eightgame winning streak after taking down Richmond (73-69) and La Salle (66-42) . . . Harvard (14-7,
7-2 Ivy) has put together a fivegame winning streak and recently beat Yale (67-54) and Brown (7461).