Tue Sep 07 2010
NEW CONCORD -- Coming off the best season in her five-year tenure at Muskingum University, women's basketball coach Beth Fox lost a lot with the graduation of five seniors from a team that finished 18-9, 12-6 in the Ohio Athletic Conference in third place.
Gone are All-American and OAC Co-Player of the Year and first team OAC forward-post Jessica McKenzie (18.6 ppg and 11 rpg), first-team OAC guard Tiffany Youel (19 ppg and four rpg) as well as Jessica Lenhart (4.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg), Mallory Moore (5 ppg, 2 rpg) and Jessica Brink with a 2.2 ppg scoring average.
That accounts for 49 points of an average of 66.7 and 19.8 rebounds of a 38 per game total which Fox, last year's OAC Coach of the Year, must replace this season.
The cupboard is not completely bare as Fox returns six letterwinner including one starter, but bad luck has already struck as letterwinner Diana Biller has been lost for the season due to a shoulder injury.
"We will be a more balanced attack this year," Fox pointed out. "We will be extremely young and inexperienced, but there is something about youth that is exciting to be around. The biggest thing we have had to do this year is teach and go back to basics. I consider youth to be a strength, but the same thing I consider to be our weakness. Whether youth can turn from a liability to an asset will determine what kind of year we have."
For the second consecutive year, Seth Martin will be the assistant coach and Fox views that as a big plus with what he teaches the players.
"Seth has been a great addition to our program," she stated. "Everybody else might class this as a rebuilding year, but I have a hard time using that word. We lost some gifted, talented athletes and we knew that time was coming. I am excited for the year and I really have enjoyed this group so far. Losing Biller really hurts because she had some experience and is very athletic."
There are just two seniors on the roster, headed by returning letterwinner Yasmyn Inskeep (5-9, G, Rushsylavania-Ben Logan). The other senior is 5-7 guard Emily Hart (Fletcher-Miami East). Biller was the lone junior.
The bulk of the roster is comprised of sophomores and freshmen with a lot of local names. The other returning letterwinners include sophomores Traci Alt (5-4, G, Salesville-Buckeye Trail), Carissa Bosch (5-7, G, Logan), 5-10 guard Suzanne Nichols (Marysville), a starter part of last year, and Amanda Dobbins (5-10, P, Zanesville-West Muskingum).
Other sophomore candidates include: 5-6 guard Lisa Burns (Marysville), 6-0 post Megan McCune (Canton-Central Catholic), 5-10 post Rachel Buirley (Mount Vernon) and sophomore transfer (Mount Union) Hannah Nelson (Salesville-Buckeye Trail), a 5-11 post player.
"We should get scoring from Dobbins, Bosch and Nichols and Alt has been scoring well for us," Fox said. "Nelson is a good addition to our team and can put up some good numbers. She is one of the most natural shooters I have been around. I don't necessarily know who will be our leader, but we have a group that in time will be a good group.
"Buirley has been doing some good things," she added, "and Hart should see some playing time. We will be taller as a whole, but we have no giants."
A group of eight freshmen round out the roster, including 5-10 post Taryn Payton (Cambridge) and Sydney Lapp (5-10, P, Dresden-Tri-Valley). Other first year candidates are: Aubin Frost (5-8, P, Edison-Mt. Gilead), Ebony Taylor (5-9, P, Cleveland-Warrensville Heights), Bridgette Neighbors, a 5-6 guard from Chillicothe-Huntington, Kayleigh Sopko (5-11, P, Parma-Valley Forge), Jazmone Turner (5-5, G, Dayton-Trotwood) and 5-7 forward Corrie Nobilucci (Johnstown).
"Payton could help us if we can harness her and get her to finish and Coach Martin is working on that," Fox pointed out. "Lapp has adapted well and comes from a good program at Tri-Valley. Nobilucci is one of the most talented athletes I have seen for a while. She is quick and jumps very well. We needed to get back to having local kids and if we continue to do that, it will be good for our program.
"We have good quickness and will use more pressure if we are smart enough to handle it," she added. "Because of the quickness, we should have good defense and will use a lot of switches and traps, but turnovers could be a real problem, although we are getting better."
The OAC coaches voted the Lady Muskies to finish ninth, which is a little troublesome for Fox personally. Capital University and Wilmington College were the two top teams, with Wilmington returning all five starters and Capital having some fifth-year players back. Baldwin-Wallace, Mount Union and Otterbein will also have to be reckoned with.
"It personally bothers me that we were picked ninth because I believe we are pretty talented," Fox stated, "but realistically, why would the coaches vote differently? I do believe we will be better than that. Capital and Wilmington are the two top teams, but nobody is down and out.
"We have adjusted our goals from a year ago," she went on. "One goal is to get into the OAC tournament (top eight teams) and once we get in we want to be in a position to be better than when we started. We want to get better every game and win along the way."
The Lady Muskies have already played in two tournaments, at Anderson University and Ursuline College as well as a road game at Bethany College.
Muskingum opens the OAC season Dec. 2 on the road against conference front-runner Wilmington and debuts at home on Dec. 5 against John Carroll.
Comments
By Posting to this site, you agree to our Terms of Service Be polite.
Inappropriate posts may be removed.
Newconcordleader.com doesn't necessarily condone the comments here, nor does it review every post.
Login above or Register to comment.
0 Total Comments Home | Back
Copyright Jeffersonian Co, LLC. 1995-2010. All Rights Reserved.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Content may not be republished without the expressed written consent of the publisher.
Dix Communications