BIDDEFORD — One of the most successful student-athletes in University of New England history will close the book on her career for good today, as she laces up her shoes and steps on to the court one last time for the Nor’easters.

Kelly Coleman will culminate her four-year career by playing in the New England Women’s Basketball Association senior All-Star game at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. It’s a deserving finale for a player that embodied the term “all-star” while at UNE.

“Kelly has been a rock for us pretty much since she got here,” said UNE head coach Anthony Ewing. “As a freshman, she had to play behind some all-conference kids and she played a huge role for us. But basically she has been a starter since her sophomore year. We’ve counted on Kelly game in, game out for her 15 (points) and eight (rebounds), or whatever it was.

“She’s been a real god-send, a real blessing I guess you could say. I feel real fortunate to have had her for four years.”

Coleman played in every game during her four-year career with the Nor’easters, and the team went 98-20 during that stretch. That included a 67-5 mark in Commonwealth Coast Conference games and a 59-4 record at home.

“She just doesn’t know what it’s like not to be successful, and I think that says a lot about her,” said Ewing.

Coleman’s winning ways started before she arrived on the UNE campus, as she led Portland (Connecticut) High School to a state championship her senior year. And since Coleman landed in Biddeford, the Nor’easters have been to the NCAA Tournament every year ”“ she and classmate Kendra Dawless make up the only class to accomplish that feat ”“ and have won a tournament game in each of the last three seasons.

Ewing said that Coleman is at her best in the biggest games and that she can be counted on down the stretch of those games.

“She never really got nervous. Kelly had some of her worst games against some of the lesser competition in our conference. And it’s not like she had lack of focus, she just would always rise to the occasion. It’s just something she’s done since high school, where they won a state championship and she led her team to that,” said Ewing. “She’s just not a kid that’s afraid of the moment. We always counted on her for that ”“ we knew we could get the ball to Kelly and she would make something good happen late.”

Coleman saved her best game of her senior season for her final countable game, as she scored a season-high 28 points to go along with nine rebounds, three steals and 60 percent shooting in a 91-75 loss to Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“They played a really up-tempo, kind of pressure style of defense where they were trying to basically guard everyone with one person and just really pressure, and that plays right into Kelly’s hands. If you’re going to guard her with one, even though that kid was pretty athletic and was a good defender, you can’t really do that with Kelly. I’m not surprised that she did well,” said Ewing. “She really didn’t want her career to end. She was going to give it everything she had to keep it going.”

Coleman also scored a career-high 32 points in a first round win in the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

At 5-foot-10, Coleman was not an overpowering presence at forward, but opposing teams often feared her by the final buzzer.

“Kelly is a unique player. She’s not real big. She’s a good athlete, but she doesn’t beat people with athleticism. She’s just an unorthodox, highly skilled player where she just uses misdirection and scoop shots, and she’s mobile, she’s very frustrating. She can step out and hit a jump shot, she can go by you,” said Ewing. “There isn’t a lot that Kelly can’t do offensively on the basketball court and she’s just really tough to guard, and almost impossible to guard with one person.”

Coleman’s final regular game as a Nor’easter proved her unstoppable nature, but it was a regular occurrence as well. She finished her career fifth on the program’s all-time scoring list, with 1,508 career points, and is also eighth all-time in rebounds, seventh in field goals made and fifth in free throws made.

Ewing also called Coleman “the consummate teammate,” as she would do anything he asked her to do ”“ which Ewing said was primarily scoring the last two years.

“She’s just a coach’s dream, that kid,” Ewing said of Coleman.

After today’s All-Star game, Coleman’s UNE career will be history, which is fitting, as she has cemented her place in UNE athletic history.

“It will be hard to quantify Kelly’s impact until … who knows how far. The kid has had a hall of fame career. She will be in our hall of fame, I have no doubt,” said Ewing. “The numbers are there for her individual success. But really (it’s) what she’s done for the team and for us as a program.”

— Sports Staff Writer Wil Kramlich can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 323 or sports@journaltribune.com. Follow him on Twitter @WilTalkSports.