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Other players to watch:
FROSTBURG STATE
Frostburg State begins life without three-time first-team All-AMCC
pick Kim Faust (1,624 points and 888 rebounds in her career) but returns
seven players, including junior forward Tracey Little (Allegany/LaVale,
MD), last year’s AMCC Player of the Year and a Pre-Season
All-America honorable mention selection this year. Her16.9 ppg., 10.0
rebounds, 14 double-doubles in 2002-03 led the team and the league.
After finishing 8-18 (5-9 AMCC) in
2001-02, the Bobcats improved to 12-15 overall and 5-7 in the AMCC and
advanced to the league semifinals. Little is the lone returning starter,
but third-year head coach Jody Pepple has added seven newcomers, most
notably junior forward Jamie Cable, who transferred from Division
II Shippensburg. Also expected to contribute will be sophomore
forward/guard Kelly True (Southern Fulton/Warfordsburg, PA),
who averaged 5.9 points
and 4.9 rebounds per game in limited action last season. She scored in
double-figures five times and had one double-double.
LA ROCHE
The 2003-04 women's basketball season begins with great
excitement and expectations surrounding the Lady Redhawks. Depth played
a factor in some of last season's struggles, but a powerful recruiting
class of seven should allow this year's squad to run a more up- tempo
style offense. The addition of depth was the main focus in recruiting
for this season.
The Lady Redhawks are returning starters Johnetta Owens
(Westinghouse/ Pittsburgh, PA) and Megan Snyder (Shaler/Glenshaw,
PA) along with reserve guards Amy Myers and Shawnti Lyon.
The newcomers this season include a strong and aggressive backcourt with
freshmen guards Christina Ball, Jessica Thomas and Kari
Whiteman. The backcourt adds finesse with transfer guard Ayana
Bronson and Isheima Worthy. La Roche Lady Redhawks are
destined to control the boards with power forwards Beverly Kitchens,
JaNet Walston and Lacey Job.
LAKE ERIE
The Lake Erie College women’s basketball team lost two starters
and graduated one senior in the off-season but added four new freshmen
to play alongside five returnees in Carla Richardson’s first season as
head coach. Richardson, who was the co-head coach last season, will
work with three seniors, two juniors, four freshmen and a transfer to
build an offensively geared program.
The core of returning talent, which includes senior guard Phylicia
Chiappone (Lake Catholic/Painesville, OH), will provide leadership for the incoming class. Richardson
will have a variety of looks for Chiappone and freshman Amanda Bray
on
the outside and senior Elisha Crutcher (Lorain Southview/Lorain, OH)
in the post. In all, Lake Erie
will look to its offense to create momentum throughout the season.
PENN STATE ALTOONA
John
Nardozza is heading into his fourth season at the helm of the Penn State
Altoona Lady Lions and ninth as a member of the coaching staff but this
year brings almost all new faces to the seasoned head coach. Nardozza
has only three returning players from last year's team, but some solid
recruits and a couple of transfer students are helping to mold the new
team quickly. The number one goal for the team, aside from winning
the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC), is to win a bid to
the NCAA Division III tournament.
Tara Stock and Lindsey Barr have both transferred to Penn
State Altoona for their sophomore seasons and Nardozza looks for big
performances from as they return to their home areas. Erin Shields,
a product of Bishop Guilfoyle returns for a second season with the Lady
Lions along with teammates Laura Price and Elise Jones.
Nardozza also has big expectations for newcomers Ashley Steiner
of Hollidaysburg, sisters Kelly and Tracy Donatelli, Darcy Everetts,
and Shana Kautter.
PENN STATE BEHREND
Last season the Behrend Lions captured their fifth Allegheny
Mountain Collegiate Conference regular-season championship in seven
years with a 10-2 mark and then lost in overtime in the AMCC finals. The
Behrend Lions earned a berth into the Eastern College Athletic
Conference Tournament for the fifth time and finished the season 15-13.
The blue and white will rely on eleven letter winners, a transfer, and
three freshmen as they enter the season. Although eleventh year head
coach Roz Fornari will be guiding one of her most youthful teams she has
ever had, she is very excited.
Senior leadership and big time game experience will be provided by
senior captains Erica Mozdy (Mercyhurst Prep/Erie/PA) and Carly Cochran
(McDowell/Erie, PA). Mozdy is the incumbent at point guard and at times can
carry the team on either side of the ball. She was a second-team
all-conference performer, and averaged 8.2 ppg and 4.1 rpg last season.
Mozdy led the team in assists per game at 2.5 and also in steals with
39. Cochran really elevated her game last season and was instrumental
in the team's postseason run. She posted career highs with 11.3 ppg and
5.2 rpg, while shooting 45% from the field and 76% from the
charity-stripe. Junior Amber Krumpe (Mercyhurst Prep/Erie, PA) was hands
down an all-AMCC player in her first year with the Behrend Lions after
transferring in from Baldwin-Wallace. She led the team in scoring at
13.5 ppg, rebounding at 6.5 rpg, field goal percentage at 51.8%, and
blocks with 16. Krumpe will continue to gain attention as the blue and
white's main interior threat and earn recognition as a possible AMCC
Player of the Year.
PITT-BRADFORD
After a 1-11 start to the 2002-03 campaign, the Lady Panthers
pretty much leveled off over the final half of the season to finish
7-18 overall and 4-8 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate
Conference. This season fourth-year
head coach Dalyann Fuller (24-52) has four returnees including sophomore
Julia Augustus DeSales/Geneva, NY), who was named AMCC Newcomer
of the year after leading the Lady Panthers in scoring (13.4
ppg), assists (62) and steals (53). Also
returning will be junior guards Cassandra Walker (Towanda/ Towanda,
PA) and Calista Walker
(Towanda/Towanda, PA) and sophomore guard/ forward Katie Barrett
(Otto-Eldred/Rixford, PA).
PITT-GREENSBURG
The 2003-04 University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg Lady Bobcats will
have a
difficult time duplicating the magical run of a season ago. The
2002-03 Lady Bobcats finished the season with a 23-7 record,
highlighted by the program's first AMCC championship, as well as the
program's first NCAA Division III tournament bid. The Lady Bobcats
also earned the school's first NCAA tournament victory by upsetting
Mt. St. Mary, 62-54, in the first round, before losing to King's
College in the second round.
Returning to help the 2003-04 team in their quest will be eight
letter-winners including three starters. Senior guards Annie Sral
(Bishop Guilfoyle/Altoona, PA) and Torey Auld (Seneca Valley
Zelienople, PA) are four-year veterans at the core of the
Bobcats' success. The 5'5" Sral, a feisty defender and clutch
scorer, averaged a team-high 13.8 points per game, while collecting
an AMCC best 91 steals in 30 games.
She also finished second with 85 assists and grabbed 138 rebounds
(4.6 per
game) and was named First Team All-AMCC for the second consecutive
season.
A steady ballhandler, the 5'8" Auld finished second in the AMCC with
an
average of 4.4 assists per game. She also chipped in 6.4 points per
game
and 81 steals, second most on the team, while playing in all 30
contests.
Despite being left off the All-Conference team a season ago, Auld
was named
Honorable Mention All-AMCC in each of her first two seasons.
Five sophomores return from last season's success, including
starting guard
Jess Phillippi (Rockwood/Rockwood, PA), who played in all 30
games, averaged 7.5 points per game, while finishing third on the
team in rebounds (4.1 per game), assists (65), and steals (64). Key
reserve Tish Hines (Clairton/Clairton, PA) also appeared in
all 30 games. The 5'8" Hines added 11 blocks and had double-doubles
in points and rebounds in both the AMCC championship game and in the
NCAA second round. |
