2006-07 Women's Basketball Ready To Make An Impact

CHICOPEE, MA, Nov. 7, 2006 – When asked, Elms College fifth-year women’s basketball head coach Laura Habacker describes her incoming players as eager to make an immediate impact.

With seven newcomers, including five freshmen on the 12-player roster, the Blazers will need that kind of enthusiasm in hopes of improving upon last year’s 9-16 record.

“Our freshmen are not the type that have the ‘I need to sit back and wait my turn’ kind of attitude and that’s good because they’ll have an opportunity to play right away,” Coach Habacker noted.

The five freshmen, however, won’t need to do it all, as the Blazers return sophomore starting forwards Paige Schneider (Windsor, CT), Shauna Sullivan (Chicopee, MA) and junior starting point guard Michelle Fernandes (Danbury, CT).

Senior forward Martha Arment (Lee, MA), a three-year team captain, and sophomore guard Tee Nazario (Bronx, NY) will also provide leadership and enthusiasm to the lineup.

“We may only have five returnees, but the difference in them with just one year under their belt has been awesome,” Coach Habacker said. “Paige and Shauna are just so much more comfortable than they were a year ago, Michelle and Martha have both become great leaders, and Tee really improved in the off-season and is eager to play.”

A look at how the Blazers will hit the court in 2006-07:

FRONTCOURT

Schneider and Sullivan should provide a formidable tandem at forward this season.

Each appeared in all 25 games a year ago and combined to play an average of over 25 minutes per game last season.

Schneider averaged 6.2 points and 5.1 rebounds in 23 starts, and scored in double figures six times, including a career-high 19 points at Lesley University in just her sixth collegiate game.

Sullivan, meanwhile, averaged 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds in 18 starts, and scored in double figures four times, including her career-high 13-point effort against Maine Maritime Academy.

“You can see how much more confident they are now, especially in practices,” Coach Habacker said of Schneider and Sullivan. “They have been the first to step up in drills, lead by example and say to the younger players ‘this is how we’re going to do it.’”

Arment provided solid numbers off the bench a year ago, as she averaged 3.6 points and 4.4 rebounds, including 110 defensive boards – good for third-best on the team last season.

Five-foot-10 freshman forward Amanda Brogna (Oxford, MA) and 5-8 sophomore forward Erin Hutchinson (Groton, MA) are also expected to make an immediate impact up front.

Brogna, a four-year player at Oxford (MA) High School, led her team to one Massachusetts Division II state championship, four SWCL East championships and was a two-year SWCL East all-star.

“Amanda comes from a very good program and is a true forward fundamentally,” Coach Habacker said.

Hutchinson is a transfer, but still has four years of collegiate eligibility for the Blazers after a four-year high school career at Groton-Dunstable.

“She is big and can play more than one position,” Coach Habacker said of Hutchinson, who helped lead Groton-Dunstable to consecutive Mid-Wachusett League championships in her final two years. “Erin works hard and will have to give us valuable minutes.”

Freshman forward Brooke Kortekamp (Monson, MA) was a three-year player at Monson High School and will also look to earn playing time in the frontcourt this season.

BACKCOURT

Fernandes has been a blue-collar worker at the point in each of her first two seasons for the Blazers. In that time, she started 42 of the team’s 50 games, including 24 of 25 games last season and averaged 8.3 points and 2.0 assists in 33.3 minutes per game a year ago.

Sophomore Jen Payton (Stratford, CT) transfers in after appearing in eight games as a freshman at Division III Utica College in 2005-06.

“Jen runs the floor very well,” Coach Habacker said. “I recruited her very hard during her senior year of high school at Bunnell.”

Freshman Ally Wanat (West Springfield, MA), a former First-Team All-Western Massachusetts and First-Team Hampshire Gazette All-Star selection, is expected to provide an offensive spark on the perimeter.

Freshman Annie Dunnack (Mansfield Center, CT) brings excellent height (5-10), intelligence and athleticism in the backcourt.

“She is a bigger guard and just understands the game at a different level,” Coach Habacker said of Dunnack, a four-year varsity player at E.O. Smith (CT) High School.

Freshman Taeler Connor (Ayer, MA) was a three-year player at Ayer (MA) High School two-time All-Mid-Wachusett Conference selection.

“Taelor’s high school program just got better and better each year and she will be able to both the point and wing for us,” Coach Habacker noted.

Nazario, who appeared in 16 games and averaged nearly 11 minutes per game as a freshman for the Blazers a year ago, will once again provide a quality spark off the bench this season.

SCHEDULE

For the second straight year, Elms College will kick off its season by hosting the Blazers Tip-Off Tournament on the weekend of November 17-18.

The Blazers will open up against MCLA in the opening game and will face either Newbury College or Western Connecticut State University, which earned a berth in the ECAC Division III Tournament last season.

The following week, the Blazers face a pair of New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes when they host Smith College on November 21 then travel to play at Mount Holyoke College a week later.

Mount Holyoke will present a formidable early-season challenge, as the Lyons went 23-6 and earned the program’s first-ever ECAC Division III Championship title last season.

The Blazers then return home five days later to face another tough non-conference foe in Union College, which went 18-9 and advanced to the ECAC Division III Upstate Tournament in 2005-06.

From there, the Blazers open up North Atlantic Conference (NAC) play with three road games in five days at Wheelock College, Husson College and Maine Maritime Academy in the first full week of December.

Elms College then concludes first-semester play at the WPI Tournament (December 30-31) in what promises to be a solid field of teams.

The Blazers open with host WPI (16-10) before facing either Tufts University (10-13) or Plattsburgh State (6-19) the following day.

“We’re gradually stepping up our non-conference schedule and I think it is right for where we are at this point with the program,” Coach Habacker explained.

The team returns to conference play with all seven of its games in the month of January, including five against West Division foes. Five of those seven games are at home – the longest stretch of games at the Maguire Center this season.

The Blazers conclude the regular season in February with a crucial stretch of eight games in 15 days, including a combined seven against divisional foes Castleton State College (twice), Johnson State College (twice), Becker College, Lasell College and Lesley University

WRAP-UP

The Blazers are more versatile and athletic than in recent years – something Coach Habacker believes is key to her team’s hopes of improving upon last season.

“We have three players in set positions, but the remainder can play multiple positions and that’s important for us,” she noted.

“I think our athleticism is at a point where we can compete with the upper-level teams in our conference like Maine Maritime and Maine-Farmington. If our players get the bigger picture, we’ll be fine.”