Wheelock College Women's Basketball

Traversi joined the Wheelock Athletic Department in September 2014 as the Head Womens Basketball Coach.  Traversi was a three-sport all-star and captain (swimming, tennis and basketball) at Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro. She scored 1,000 points and earned selections to the Boston Globe All-Scholastic and Boston Herald Dream Team. On May 16, 2014 Missy was inducted into the Bishop Feehan High School Athletic Hall of Fame. As a Division I player at the University of Maine under Sharon Versyp, Traversi led her team to an NCAA tournament appearance, two WNIT appearances and three regular season America East titles. As a point guard and floor leader she led her team in scoring. During her junior campaign, she logged in a season-high 20 points in the first round of the NCAA tournament against top-ranked Texas tech. In her senior season, she served as team captain, was named first team all-conference, became a member of the 1,000-point scoring club and earned a contract to play professional basketball in Sweden.  During her two European seasons on the professional circuit, Traversi was the number one scorer in Sweden, averaging 23.5 points per game.  Missy was later named the assistant coach of her Swedish team and in 2006 went on to tryout for the Chicago Sky WNBA team. In June 2010, Missy was named the Assistant Womens Basketball Coach at Harvard University, working under the Winningest All-Time Ivy League Head Coach, Kathy Delaney Smith. As part of the Division I staff she provided support in all aspects of recruiting, scouting reports and skill development. Most recently Missy has coached five seasons at the high school level.  At Dover Sherborn High School she was named the Tri Valley League Coach of the Year. For the last three years Missy has resurrected the Attleboro High School Girls Basketball Program. A competitive member of the Hockomock League, Attleboro has gone from 2 wins to 17 wins in three short years including a quarterfinal appearance in the state tournament. Missys efforts at Attleboro High School earned her back-to-back Coach of the Year honors. Missy now resides in North Attleboro, Mass. In August 2013, she completed her Masters program in Athletic Administration from Ohio University. Traversi is in her 9th year owning and operating MT Elite, a premier girls basketball teaching academy in Southeastern Massachusetts. Missy remains committed to sharing the power of sport in a young female athletes life through speaking engagements for various programs in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 2014-2015 Season (First season) In Traversis first season at Wheelock she led the team from the previous 6 wins to 11 wins including a 5 seed in the NECC playoffs.  The overall record was 11-15 (9-9 NECC conference record) which to date is the most wins of any Wheelock Womens Basketball Team in a single season in the history of the program.  The New England Collegiate Conference selected Wheelock College as the recipients of the Team Sportsmanship Award for the 2014-2015 season. There were many player and team accomplishments throughout the 2014-2015 season including a 5 game win streak and avenging losses to Elms (upsetting the #2 team in the conference) and Mitchell.  Wheelock was led by the #2 scorer in the conference in Michelle Woods averaging 18.2 PPG only 27 points shy from scoring her 1000th point at Wheelock.  Wheelocks Katie Alsip was the #6 rebounder in the conference averaging 8.9 RPG.  Sophomore Jaime Grzych was in the NECC top 10 in assists and steals. In addition, freshman (62 Center) Simone Ngongi now holds the record for total block shots at Wheelock College. Simone was named the NECC Rookie of the Week for having 10 blocks in one game. 2014-2015 Highlights Include: 11 win total (most wins in program history) 9-9 NECC  Record Upsetting #2 Elms NECC Team Sportsmanship Award Michelle Woods was named first team NECC Katie Alslip was named Honorable Mention NECC

Atkinson has been named Head Women's Basketball Coach. Atkinson takes over the women's basketball program after spending the 2015-16 season as an assistant coach under Coach Missy Traversi. Under their guidance, the Wildcats set a program record with 18 wins and a second place, regular season finish in the New England Collegiate Conference. Prior to her arrival at Wheelock, the Hopkinton native most recently served as the Head Varsity Girls Basketball Coach at Hopkinton High School from 2007-2015. There, she was both a Boston Globe and MetroWest Coach of the Year.  Atkinson's Hopkinton teams made consistent appearances in the MIAA semi and quarterfinals, eventually earning a MIAA South Sectional championship title.   Atkinson garnered more success as a head coach at Marian High School from 2000-2007. In this time frame, Rita was named Coach of the Year by the Boston Globe (2004) and the MetroWest newspaper (2006), on top of being named the Mass. Basketball Coaches Association Div. 4 South Coach of the Year (2006). Atkinson's team was a South Sectional finalist during the 2003-2004 season, and two years later, her Marian squad earned the MIAA Division 4 state title for the 2005-2006 season. Additionally, Rita adds eighteen years of high school and collegiate basketball experience leading programs at Holliston High School, the College of the Holy Cross, Boston University, Worcester State University and Clark University. Coach Atkinson graduated from Providence College in 1982, where she was a four-year member of the women's basketball and field hockey programs.  She currently resides with her family in Hopkinton, Mass.