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Nice development for W&J women
Staff writer
jmontecalvo@observer-reporter.com
On most basketball teams, the seniors and top players are expected to be the emotional leaders.
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It could have been the recipe for a long, difficult season, and it looked that way early as the Presidents started 6-6. But W&J went 14-3 from that point and shared the Presidents' Athletic Conference regular-season championship with Thomas More and Westminster.
The Presidents, whose starting lineup consisted of three sophomores and two freshmen, lost in the semifinals of the PAC tournament. But they earned an ECAC tournament bid and took a great deal of promise into the offseason.
"Last year, we had a lot of young kids come along really well, and we hope to build on that this year," head coach Jina DeRubbo said. "At the end of the year, we came on strong."
It's no wonder, with four starters and every top reserve back, W&J was picked in a preseason poll as the favorite to win the conference title. Kaleigh Bangor, who started at guard, is studying abroad this year.
"There are some really good teams in the conference," said DeRubbo, who is in her fourth season at W&J. "The kids know it's going to be a fight for the automatic bid. We won't walk through this conference."
This is the first year the winner of the PAC will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament and DeRubbo expects Thomas More, Westminster and Waynesburg to be among the top contenders. Thomas More won the PAC tournament last year, but two of the Saints' top scorers - Brooke Warner and Megan Wood - were seniors. The Presidents, meanwhile, still will be playing with a relatively young lineup.
Sarah Hunt, Jen Rogers, Maria Hillenbrand - all post players - and guard Juliet Sargent, a Washington graduate, are the only seniors.
"We've gotten a lot better as a team. We had a lot of close games that we went through," said junior forward Emily Hays, who averaged 9.4 points and 5.1 rebounds per game, while shooting a conference-high 56 percent from the floor. "The freshmen last year really did an excellent job of taking on a leadership role."
That included forward Maggie Gibson and point guard Kennan Killeen.
Gibson led the PAC in rebounding, averaging 8.9 per game, was third in field goal percentage, and scored 7.8 points per game.
Killeen had a conference-best 124 assists and led the team with 49 steals. She also was the Presidents' leading scorer (10.4 ppg) and ranked 10th in the nation in free-throw percentage (.873).
"We expect great things from them again," DeRubbo said. "Maggie has become much more of an offensive threat and is playing with more confidence."
That could spell trouble for the opposition because the Presidents' strength was already their inside game.
"We have a very strong post presence," DeRubbo said. "And we have depth on the inside that other teams don't have."
At guard, juniors Veronica Kust and Lindsey Hyre will contribute, while freshmen Jamie McKitrick, Catlyn Kriston and Trinity graduate Alysse Kelley could see time.
In addition to four freshmen, there will be another new face on the W&J bench.
Katie Tetzlaw joins Vicki Staton as an assistant coach after spending two years as an assistant at Allegheny. Tetzlaw was a three-year starter for DeRubbo at Bethany and helped the Bison win three PAC titles.
"Katie brings unlimited energy to the team and does a great job of recruiting," DeRubbo said. "Obviously, she knows our system."
Part of that includes a concerted effort to play solid defense. And so far, the Presidents have done just that.
W&J held Alfred and Penn State-Altoona to 59 and 56 points, respectively, in wins during the Holiday Inn Classic last weekend. The Presidents' point totals reached the 80s in each game. W&J then held Allegheny to 44 points and improved to 3-0 on Tuesday.
"We have to come in every day and play as hard as we can, and work on defense," Hays said. "We have a lot of girls who can score 10 to 15 points per game. We shouldn't have a problem scoring points."
