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Sophomore Kaitie Clarkin (in black jersey) will look to increase her production for UMW this year after a solid debut last season.
Sophomore Ashton Mitchell (left) and teammate Erica Lowe (right) will provide the power in the low-post for the Eagles. |
Aside from some bumps and bruises in the early going and a nightmarish, pre-holiday trip to the New Jersey shore, the University of Mary Washington women's basketball team seems primed and ready for another shot at an NCAA championship.
"There's always going to be pressure, especially since people know what we are capable of doing," sophomore Ashton Mitchell reasoned on the eve of the Eagles' home opener against Shenandoah University. "I think that is going to make us work harder to get where we can go."
Last year's squad achieved several milestones, advancing to the NCAA Division III Sweet 16 for the first time and compiling a school-record 25-game winning streak along the way.
With nine of last year's top 10 players back (only starter Jenn Olinger graduated) and bolstered by the arrival of four talented newcomers, the Eagles are anxious to prove 2005-06 was no fluke. They intend to capture the Capital Athletic Conference championship that eluded their grasp last February.
Losing to Messiah College the second game of the season may have served as a wake-up call to the Eagles, but more irksome for the team was last week's away game at Richard Stockton College (located near Atlantic City, N.J.).
Due to heavy traffic, the bus trip lasted eight hours and the Eagles were greeted by boos from the home crowd (possibly due to the 90-minute delay). UMW didn't get back to Fredericksburg until 4:30 the next morning.
Coach Deena Applebury is not going to dismiss what the team accomplished last season, but she does not plan to dwell on the issue, either. She feels the club has to establish its own identity.
"Last year is over; this year is a new year. Everybody has to adjust to new roles and try to fit in and go with what we have with the current team," the fourth-year coach said. "In terms of goals, I want this team to come out and play competitive night in, night out.
"It's not who we go against. I want us to get out there and play up to our ability," she said. "Our schedule is a little tougher this year, hopefully to prepare us for the future and the NCAA tournament."
Focusing on the present and taking a one-game-at-a-time approach is a sound coaching strategy, but last year's feats are sure to resurface, either by Eagle fans or the players themselves.
"You would be talking and stories would come up," sophomore guard Katie Clarkin recalled. "There is never a point where you stop talking [about it], but it was never the focus of the conversation.
"Things would remind you of last year and you would bring up a certain point, but then it would be over."
Mitchell and Clarkin were two of the newcomers who made key contributions last season--the others being Katy Larson and Leigh Kampman, a transfer from James Madison.
Both Larson and junior starting guard Sarah Flanagan epitomize the team's depth and the ability of players to compete at several different positions as one of the team's greatest strengths.
"She [Applebury] mixes things up pretty much every practice, and I don't think anybody minds," said Larson, who was a chief catalyst off the Eagles' bench last season.
"First team, second team is not a big deal," she added. "If someone is having a bad game, there are two, three people behind us that can pick us up.
"We know that and we are OK with it."
After missing most of her freshman season due to a knee injury, Flanagan turned in a solid sophomore effort, averaging 8.1 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
"I think everyone has improved and added something else to their game," the Springfield resident stated. "Since we have grown in different ways, it's more interchangeable this year.
"We can go really big or we can go small," she reasoned. "We can have Liz [Hickey], Debbie [Bruen] and Ashton all on the floor at the same time. I think it is something that is going to happen more this year."
Having Hickey and Ashton on the floor at the same time is sure to give opposing teams major headaches, and the situation might prove even more dire with the arrival of freshman Erica Lowe, who brings a greater physical presence underneath.
"If we are having problems defending a big back-to-the-basket post player, Erica is going to be the kind of kid who can go in there and bang and compete with them," Applebury said. "Liz and Ashton are more finesse post players."
Not that any of the Eagle players are weaklings, though. Through offseason weight-lifting and conditioning drills, the players are ready to crash the boards against almost anyone.
A rival of Flanagan and Clarkin during their high school careers, Kampman indicated she was made comfortable on her first visit to UMW and knew she was ready to transfer here after a pickup game.
"We jelled early, but once we got down to our big conference road games, I think we clicked as a team," the junior guard from Oakton stated. "We got a taste of what it was like to go to the tournament and we want to do the same thing [again]."
Remaining schedule: Nov. 27--Shenandoah; 29--at Marymount; Dec. 8--at York; 17--vs. Ripon College (Fla.); 18--vs. Adrian (Fla.); Jan. 4--at Frostburg; 6--Christopher Newport; 8--Mary Baldwin; 10--at Salisbury; 13--Gallaudet; 17--at Goucher; 20--at St. Mary's; 25--Marymount; 27--at Hood; 30--at Bridgewater; Feb. 3--York; 6--Salisbury; 8--at Gallaudet; 10--Goucher; 14--St. Mary's; 17--at Catholic; 20, 22, 24--CAC tournament.
To reach KURT NICOLL:
Email: knicoll@freelancestar.com
SHENANDOAH (2-0) Goolrick Auditorium |
