DOYLESTOWN (PA)- The Delaware Valley women's basketball team will tip-off its season Tuesday December 9th, at Centenary University. It is a much-anticipated season for the Aggies, who are coming off a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom championship birth last year.
"The experience of going to the championship game, we used it, we said 'We're here'", head coach Laura Hogan said. "I thought we embraced the experience and I thought we played hard."
The Aggies return their second leading scorer, and all-MAC Freedom honorable mention, in sophomore Haley Keenan (11.8 ppg) and their leading rebounder, sophomore Taylor Richardson (7.6 rpg). Those two, along with the team's lone senior Lauren Moretti, are three returning starters from last year's team. Moretti, for her career, averages of 9.2 points, 4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.5 assists per game. Coach Hogan's challenge this year is replacing MAC Freedom Defensive Player of the Year, and leading scorer, Emily Kutskel and starting guard Shayne Glenn (10.4 ppg.) who rounded out last year's starting five.
"The nice thing is, I think on different days, it can be different players scoring for us," Hogan said. "I'm hoping we're not a team that's saying 'Lauren has to get us 18 every night'. I think Lauren will score and I think Haley will score, but I think we have some nice athletes that we're going to bring off the bench that can get us some transition points."
DelVal will turn to a mix of young and experienced players to fill those roles, with 75 percent of the roster being underclassmen.
Junior guard Kyarra Williams and sophomore guard Kaela Stankiewicz are part of that youthful, experienced group that will look to fill bigger roles this season. Williams logged 18 minutes per game last year with 2.3 points and 2.1 rebounds per showing while Stankiewicz saw 14.3 minutes per contest.
"I think the one thing that is nice with the young players is they got a little experience last year," Hogan said. "They had a little taste of it with the shortened season and a lot of those young athletes played a lot of minutes."
"We know what to expect this year," Keenan said, speaking of the returning underclassmen from last year's MAC Freedom runner-up team. "We have to be leaders and make sure everyone's head is in the game."
Hogan, who will begin her 27th year as the Aggies head coach, thinks her team could play a variety of ways, whether that be a spread offense or a more traditional look with multiple post players. Whichever way the Aggies lean, the team feels their quickness is one of their biggest strengths.
"We're going to be really fast," Keenan said. "We're going to push the ball a lot this year and take advantage of that."
While DelVal wants to emphasize a fast pace, it may take some time to adjust to that style. The Aggies are currently practicing in their secondary gym, after James Work Gymnasium suffered damage during the September floods. The current temporary floor being used by Hogan's team is about ten feet shorter than the regulation-sized 94- foot court. With the plan to have home games on the new court in December, DelVal's only taste of a full court in the preseason is two scrimmages at Widener and at Eastern.
"We have to understand that the first eight games are on the road," Hogan said. "I think the biggest thing for us is that we have to be tough. We have to be in better shape. You have to put the extra time in. We're hoping in the long run it will help us and by the time January and February come around we're playing pretty good basketball on the road."
"It's teaching us that we have to push through any obstacle," Moretti said. "We almost play a full game at every practice to get us ready, but I think our scrimmages will be the test when we go to a bigger court to see if we're in shape."
The Aggies were selected fifth in the MAC Freedom preseason coaches' poll, a sign that others around the league expect this year's team to continue to compete deep into the season.
"I think it does motivate us," Moretti said. "Fifth is a playoff seed, so I think people in the conference do see us making the playoffs and going far. Last year we made it to the championship, so I think we have a standard we need to reach."
