With Experience Comes Wisdom For 2007-08 Women's Basketball
WITH EXPERIENCE COMES WISDOM FOR 2007-08 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM
CHICOPEE, MA, Nov. 14, 2007 - If the old saying ‘with experience comes wisdom' holds true, the 2007-08 season promises to be a bright one for the Elms College women's basketball team.
The Blazers return 10 players, including four starters from a year ago and that has sixth-year head coach Laura Habacker optimistic about her team's chances of improving upon last season's 7-18 record.
"Right now we are far ahead of where we were a year ago at this time," Coach Habacker noted. "All 10 of our returnees have made basketball a year-round commitment and that's what you find the better college programs doing nowadays."
Last season, the Blazers' 12-player roster featured a combined 10 freshmen and sophomores. Two key players - junior guard Jenn Payton (Stratford, CT) and sophomore forward Amanda Brogna (Oxford, MA) - missed most of the second half of last season due to injuries.
Coach Habacker, however, was quick to note the positive impact losing Payton and Brogna may have on this year's team.
"When Jenn and Amanda got hurt, that forced us to make adjustments and we were able to get a lot of younger players a lot of experience," she explained.
BACKCOURT
The Blazers have no shortage of experience, athleticism and poise in the backcourt with the return of five guards - including three-year senior starting point guard Michelle Fernandes (Danbury, CT).
Fernandes has been a staple at the point for the Blazers, as she has started 67 of the Blazers' 75 games over the past three seasons. Last year, Fernandes started in all 25 games and averaged 5.6 points and 2.6 assists in 28.7 minutes per game.
"Michelle has a relentless work ethic and takes pride in her defense," Coach Habacker said.
Payton, who appeared in 18 games before being hampered by injury the second half of last season, averaged a team-leading 11.3 points in 15 starts.
Sophomores Ally Wanat (West Springfield, MA), Taeler Connor (Ayer, MA), Taina Nazario (Bronx, NY) and Annie Dunnack (Mansfield Center, CT) all return in the backcourt to provide additional depth and versatility.
Wanat made 24 appearances off the bench and averaged 6.9 points and recorded 25 steals in 19.0 minutes per contest, while Connor, Nazario and Dunnack combined to average 12.3 points.
Sophomore Jaimie Martin (Willington, CT) and freshman Justine Tokas (Enfield, CT) will also vie for playing time at the guard position this season.
FRONTCOURT
Although short on numbers, the Blazers' frontcourt has solid size, experience and athleticism.
At 5-10, Brogna showed flashes of dominance in the post before an injury sidelined her for much of the final 12 games of last season.
Before the injury, however, Brogna averaged 8.0 points and a team-leading 6.3 rebounds in 12 starts, including a career-high 20-point effort against Lesley on January 9.
"She is a true throw-back forward in every sense," Coach Habacker said of Brogna.
Junior forwards Paige Schneider (Windsor, CT) and Shauna Sullivan (Chicopee, MA) also return for their third seasons and will give the Blazers multiple options up front.
Schneider averaged 7.1 points and 5.2 rebounds in 22 starts, including a season-high 16-point, 12-rebound effort in a midseason win over Bay Path.
"Paige is critical for because she can do more than one thing and that gives us options," Coach Habacker explained.
Five-foot-eight junior forward Erin Hutchinson (Groton, MA) appeared in 25 games and averaged 16.1 minutes per game as the Blazers' other frontcourt returnee.
SCHEDULE
The Blazers have arguably their most favorable season-opening stretch of games in Coach Habacker's six years at the helm, as the team plays six of its first eight games in the friendly confines of the Maguire Center, beginning with the Blazer Invitational on the weekend of November 16-17.
Elms College faces MCLA in Friday night's opening round before facing either St. Joseph's (ME) or Connecticut College the next day.
Following their road opener at Smith on November 20, the Blazers return home for four of the next five games, including home contests against Mount Holyoke (Nov. 27), Nichols (Nov. 29), St. Joseph's (CT) (Dec. 6) and the team's North Atlantic Conference (NAC) opener against Wheelock to conclude first semester play on December 8.
The Blazers open up second semester play at Western Connecticut State on January 6 then return home once again for four of the next five games, including conference contests against Johnson State, Castleton, Becker and a non-conference game against Hartwick.
From there, the Blazers play eight of their final 11 games - all NAC contests - on the road.
"Overall I like our schedule," Coach Habacker said. "Our non-conference schedule features a lot of good teams that will help us prepare for our league and we face teams from different leagues with different styles - similar to what we see in our conference."
WRAP-UP
The Blazers possess proven experience at every position with the return of 10 players, including four starters.
The keys to success for Coach Habacker are simple.
"It's always about defense and rebounding," she said. "We really need to rebound the ball well if we're going to be successful this season."