East Lyme - In soccer, East Lyme High School junior Theresa Durkee is a Division I recruit, giving a verbal commitment earlier this fall to play beginning in 2016 for the women's team at Providence College.

By her freshman soccer season at East Lyme, Durkee was already causing then-Waterford coach Rob Brule to roll his eyes, scoring in one of her first varsity outings against the Lancers in what wound up as a 2-1 victory in overtime.

"I love the game so much," said Durkee, a midfielder.

On the basketball court, Durkee is the point guard this season for a Vikings team which graduated five seniors, including four starters. She looks smaller than on the soccer field; she said it's her cleats which make her look more statuesque than her 5-foot-6 3/4 frame. Durkee is East Lyme's only returning starter.

But she's also unflappable, something which made basketball coach Colleen Hardison name Durkee as one of the Vikings' two captains this winter along with senor Brielle Benson.

East Lyme lost to Bacon Academy on Friday night in a tough one, 40-38, to fall to 0-2 after opening against Norwich Free Academy. Durkee finished with six points, all in the first half, and added five rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot. She had 15 points in the Vikings' 71-35 loss to NFA.

"She's just such an unbelievable athlete," Hardison said of Durkee. "Thankfully she's sticking with basketball. I'm happy to have her for a leader. Other kids look up to her as a role model. She's calm and poised and never freaks out.

"She can make a steal and, instead of making a bad decision, a quick decision, she settles down and makes a good decision. … She's always in a good mood."

Durkee made one steal and split a pair of defenders to give East Lyme a 20-15 lead with 2 minutes, 28 seconds to go before halftime Friday, finishing with an up-and-under flourish.

The game was tied at 20 at halftime and deadlocked three times in the second half. With the game tied 35-35, however, Abby Willauer hit one of two free throws for Bacon and the Bobcats' Jill Reynolds - who missed a large portion of the first half in foul trouble - followed with a steal and a layup on the next possession for a three-point lead.

Bacon couldn't make enough free throws to put the game out of reach, nor could East Lyme come up with a big shot in the final five minutes.

Bacon's Rachel LaSaracina hit a jump shot from the left side to put the Bobcats up 40-36 with about a minute remaining. East Lyme got two free throws from Hannah LeBeau (team-high 16 points), to pull within two, but not until there were 2.1 seconds remaining.

"It's a challenge. It challenges us," Durkee said of the Vikings' inexperienced roster, which features one senior and four juniors in the starting lineup. "It makes us better overall. It's a building year, but we're kind of working harder. We're learning something every game. I think we're improving. We want it for each other."

Durkee's older sister, Colleen, one of last year's deep senior class, is a freshman guard this season for the women's basketball team at DeSales University in Pennsylvania.

Meanwhile, Theresa, who plays for coach Jennifer Sullivan with the Southeast Soccer Club when she's not playing in high school, took a visit to Providence and loved it. Sullivan, the girls' varsity coach at Ledyard High School, played for UConn and was later an assistant coach at Providence.

"It was a perfect fit for me," said Durkee, whose East Lyme team won its third straight Eastern Connecticut Conference tournament this season and went through the regular season unbeaten for the second time in her career.

"I dreamed about it ever since I was little. Playing in the Big East (Conference), I couldn't imagine anything better. … I love my high school coach, I love my premier coach … I love scoring, I love the team aspect (of soccer).

"I love the atmosphere (at East Lyme) with (coach Rachel) Redding and the other coaches. In practice, she'll say 'you've got to pick it up,' then she'll make a joke and we'll get all hyped up again."

v.fulkerson@theday.com

Twitter: @vickieattheday