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Rebuilding: Not A Word In Messiah Women's Basketball Vocabulary
The view may be a bit different for head coach Mike Miller this season, though he hopes the results are similar.
Annville, PA — So what if the Messiah women’s basketball team lost 54.2 percent of its scoring, 33.8 percent of its rebounding and a 2008 senior class that guided the program to last year’s national championship game and a composite 107-13 record over the past four seasons? Things obviously haven’t changed all that much, at least from those on the outside looking in. Messiah was picked to win the MAC Commonwealth Conference in Tuesday’s annual pre-season coaches poll, along with securing a pair of Top 25 rankings at the national level: The Falcons open the year ranked 13th in the USA Today /ESPN Top 25 Coaches Poll and 14th in the D3hoops.com ballot, proving that a somewhat new-look squad won’t be doing much sneaking up on anyone. “I was a bit surprised, to be honest,” said 23rd-year program leader Mike Miller. “When you look at purely the numbers, it would be very understandable for people to think that we are rebuilding. But that’s not how we feel and operate within our program.” Only a 10-player roster will grace the floor when Messiah opens its 2008-2009 campaign at nearby York College Saturday, though eight of those players return with considerable experience. The Falcons (30-3, 10-0 in ’07-’08) received 43 points and six-first place votes in the Commonwealth pre-season poll, edging out Lebanon Valley College (36 points). Looking to bounce back without ’08 graduates Nikki Lobach, Lauren Schurr, Gwen Avery and Amy Reed, Miller said this year’s team will offer different strengths from those in recent seasons’ past. Lobach led the conference a year ago, scoring 17.9 points per game, notching 570 points in 33 games played. Schurr and Reed were just under eight points a contest. This year, a plausibly quicker lineup will occupy the court on most occasions, led by seniors Ashley Brooks and Silalei Shani (a First Team All-Commonwealth selection last year). Brooks finished ninth in the conference last season with 5.5 rebounds a game as Shani posted 9.6 points and 4.8 boards a contest. When considering increased playing time for quick senior guards Katie Kalb and Christa Wenrich — as well as scrappy, do-it-all junior Julie Henninger — it’s easy to see why Miller feels his team can compete at an extremely high level again this season. “Last year, our seniors showed us how to get it done,” he said. “This year our players are ready to put their own stamp on things.” A pack of league teams will be attempting to ensure that does not happen, as Lebanon Valley (24-6, 6-4 in ’07-’08) was not far behind in the voting. After finishing with their best record in program history and with the best turnaround in NCAA Division III history at 14 games, the Dutchmen under third-year Head Coach Todd Goclowski bring back their core players from a season ago after reaching the ECAC South Final. Leading the way will be sophomore guard Lori Lidlow, the Co-Rookie of the Year and First-Team All-Conference selection last year. She finished third in the conference with 13.9 points per game while scoring 403 points in her first year at guard. Sophomore point guard Andrea Hoover and classmate Eryn Schultz will also return after sensational freshman campaigns. Hoover led the conference in 2007-08 with 4.50 steals a game while Schultz tallied 9.1 points per game while knocking down 45 three-pointers. Senior Megan Bish will add leadership to the group after recording 8.5 points and 4.8 rebounds off the bench. Albright (20-7, 8-2) finished third in the poll with 31 points and one first-place vote. After reaching their first NCAA postseason appearance last season and completing their best season in program history, the Lions take the court without Jackie Hardwick. For her career, she reached the 1,000-point plateau and became the 10th player in program history to reach this feat. This season, Albright will be led by senior Annie McMahon (First-Team All-Conference) and sophomore Jessica McGinness. McMahon finished fourth in the conference with 13.5 points per game as McGinness, the Co-Rookie of the Year and Second-Team All-Conference selection, finished fourth in the conference with 13.5 points a game as a freshman. The senior guard was also first in the conference in steals (3.04/g) and seventh in the conference in rebounds (5.8/g). Elizabethtown (11-14, 2-8) sits in the fourth seed in the poll with 25 points. The Blue Jays will bring back a solid group of upperclassmen that looks to make a run at the conference playoffs. After losing Erin Walton (16.4 ppg) and Audrey Hitz (8.1 rpg) to graduation, Elizabethtown returns seniors Megan Quinn, Jenn Montague (Second-Team All-Conference), and Megan Romano. Quinn finished fifth in the conference as a junior, finishing with 12.2 points per contest in addition to her 5.2 boards, good for a top 15 finish also in the conference. Montague will also be instrumental to the Blue Jays success, as she ranked in the top 15 as well in points and boards per game (9.0, 5.9). Romano finished third in the conference with 3.42 assists per game while chipping in with 6.2 points a game in 19 appearances. Tied for fifth place in the poll is Lycoming with 24 points. The Warriors retain four players that finished in the top 25 in conference scoring a year ago, including senior Andrea Cooper (First-Team All-Conference) and juniors Jessica Nabholz, Jessica Zerbee, and Rebecca Leid. Cooper ranked eighth in the conference with 11.0 points per game while Nabholz and Zerbee both finished with just under 8.0 points per contest. Zerbee dished out a second-best 3.74 assists and a fourth-best 2.00 steals per game in the conference. Leid was able to notch 6.8 points a game in 2007-08. Also in the fifth spot in the poll is Widener with 24 points The Pride (11-15, 3-7) will be led in 2008-09 by captains senior Beth Dessart Mager and juniors Lindsey Isler and Becky Tyler (Second-Team All-Conference). Senior Megan Sipple and junior Rayne Reber will also bring leadership and production to the lineup. Mager finished with 9.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, ranking her in the top 15 in the conference in both categories. Sipple came in seventh in the conference last season with 11.0 points per game with 2.58 steals per contest, good enough for second-best in the conference. Reber will also be a big part of the offense this season, as she posted a conference-best .825 free-throw percentage (66-80) with 8.2 points per game. Arcadia (8-17, 4-8 Freedom Conference) places seventh in the poll with 13 points. Fourth-year player Caitlin Sparks will lead the Knights this season as she led the squad a year ago with 13.2 points and 8.0 assists per game. A First-Team All-Conference selection and a D3hoops.com All-Mid-Atlantic Second-Team selection, Sparks reached the 1,000-point plateau in 2007-08. Senior Shannon Bustin, junior Kim Milligan, and sophomores Kim Lomas and Corrine Geiger will also return for first-year Head Coach Crystal Gibson. Messiah will open its season Saturday, traveling to face a York team that is coming off its best season in program history. The Spartans posted a school-record 19 wins last season and have six seniors returning this year. Fans unable to attend that contest will be able to follow the action on the web through Live Stats. “We’ve got to start the year with a toss-up game, but it should be good for us,” Miller said. “We do have a lot of changes within our team this year, but anytime you change things up it can be refreshing. I think the chemistry has a chance to be even better. With a smaller roster, players are more concerned with making positive plays as opposed to making mistakes. They know it’s up to them. I think we’re all excited to get started.”
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