Author: Laura Bowen
The Women’s Basketball Team started its season strongly this past weekend, with two wins in the first two games. The games were part of the Tip Off Classic tournament hosted by Caltech. On Friday afternoon, the team played at home against the La Sierra University Eagles, crushing them 62 to 18.
Returning player Brittany Mally (junior) led the team with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Gillian Nugent (junior) and Asha Jordan (senior) also scored 10 points each, with six rebounds and two rebounds, respectively. First years Lauren Meyer, Gabriella Hirsh-Gonsalez and Kiana Dobson made their college career debuts in the second half of the game as well.
On Saturday the team played at Caltech against the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, beating an even tougher competition with a final score of 58 to 38. Dior Williams (junior) was the top scorer, with 16 total points and four rebounds. Madeline Rose (sophomore) had the most rebounds with seven total, as well as four points.
The coaches were overall very happy with the results of this weekend’s tournament. Head coach Heidi VanDerveer said, “We got better over both 40 minute games which is what we need to do . . . We keep our concentration.”
Assistant coach Anahit Aladzhanyan said, “We started strong . . . we executed our game plan and took our opponents out of their flow.”
The coaches are very optimistic about the team this year as well. Aladzhanyan said, “As far as our strengths go, we have a very balanced attack. We have a great group of smart and talented players who work hard for one another.” VanDeerveer spoke of the strengths of the team as well, saying, “We can play people in shorter spurts so they can play hard . . . We have a good variety.”
In terms of the rest of the season, their goals aren’t far into the future. VanDerveer said, “The first thing you want to do is you want to get better on a daily basis.” Assistant coach Elizabeth Butterick echoed the statement saying, “We are looking forward to a great season, and it starts in practice with an effort to improve on a daily basis.”
As for the end of the season, the question will be whether the team can yet again claim the title of SCIAC champions. “SCIAC champs is a realistic goal,” Vanderveer said. However, NCAA playoffs are the ultimate goal for the team. Aladzhanyan said, “We will work hard to defend our SCIAC title and get to the next step – the NCAA playoffs.” If the team continues the season as strongly as they started, the NCAA playoffs could be a very likely reality.
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