PRESIDENTS' ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (PAC)
2001-02 WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PREVIEW


BETHANY BISON (17-10 in 2000-01)
Head Coach Jina DeRubbo, who is entering her fifth year at the helm with a 70-35 record, will have the major hurdle of replacing Jill Kamerer, who graduated last year after earning PAC MVP honors and winning the league scoring crown. DeRubbo will have two Second Team All-PAC performers back this year. Junior guard Kiki Cohen (9.4 ppg., 53 three-pointers) and forward/center Kelley Richardson (9.3 ppg., 7.1 rpg.), return to spearhead the Bison attack. The other returning starter is senior point guard Nicole Naccarato (4.5 ppg., 4.0 apg., 2.3 spg.).Four other letterwinners return, meaning the cupboard isn’t bare as the Bison gun for their fourth consecutive PAC championship.
 

GROVE CITY LADY WOLVERINES (15-10 in 2000-01)
The Lady Wolverines will look to three returning backcourt starters to get back to the post-season for the fifth time in the last six seasons.  Returning from last year's 15-10 season, which ended in an opening round loss to DeSales University in the ECAC championship tournament, are 5-5 senior guard Stephanie Murphy, 5-3 senior guard T.L. Thompson and 5-8 junior guard Cara Denniston.  Murphy was named to the PAC First Team after averaging a team-high 10.2 points per game with 42 three-pointers made.  Denniston and Thompson averaged 5.6 and 5.5 points, respectively.  Other key returnees include senior 5-8 guard Kristy Kegg and junior 5-9 guard Christy Faller.  Junior 5-11 forward Jessica Jenkins and 5-9 sophomore forward Misty Wadowsky will get the chance to win starting jobs in the vacant frontcourt.  Jenkins averaged 6.1 points and 4.4 boards per game in limited time last year.  Grove City placed third in the PAC at 5-3.
 

THIEL LADY CATS (16-10 in 2000-01)
The 2001 Thiel College women’s basketball team and head coach Gloria Pacsi begin the 2001-02 season with 10 letterman returning, including four starters, with hopes of challenging for the 2002 Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) title. Pacsi enters her 14th year as the head coach of the Lady Cats with a 114-180 overall record.  She became the women’s basketball all-time leader in wins last season, passing Margaret A. Rhoads’ 110 victories. The Lady Cats finished last season with a 16-10 overall record and a 3-5 record in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC). Sophomore guard Amanda Swanson returns as the Lady Cats lone First Team All-PAC selection from the 2000-01 season.  She averaged a team-high 13.5 points per game last season along with 5.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Danielle Mezzulo and sophomore guard Kerry Guthrie also return as starters from last season’s squad.  Mezzulo averaged 5.5 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game, while Guthrie helped out with 2.8 points per game and 1.6 rebounds per game.  Senior forward Sara Snyder rounds out the Lady Cats returning starters, averaging 11.1 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Some key returnees to this season’s team are senior guard Jennifer Barnes, junior guard Monica Smith, junior center Liz Payne, junior center Stacy Shook and senior guard Nikki Willrich. Some key newcomers to this year’s Lady Cats squad are freshman guard Tanisha Franklin, freshman guard Brenda Scott, freshman forward Laura Fahey and junior guard Mayumi Sasaki.
 

WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON PRESIDENTS (12-14 in 2000-01)
Head Coach Carrie Zickefoose enters his second season as head coach after leading Washington & Jefferson to the regular season PAC Championship last year.  The Presidents return four starters from last season’s 12-14 squad that was edged by Bethany in the PAC Championship Game. Sophomore guards Rachel Armitage (13.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and Shawndra McDonald (12.7 ppg, 3.5 apg) will start in the backcourt.  The duo comprised just under 40 percent of the Presidents’ offense last season. Junior forwards Amy Strosnider (10.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg) and Lauren Hull (7.1 ppg, 6.5 rpg) also are returning starters in the rontcourt. Sophomore reserves Stephanie Ceraso and Libby Gasior and redshirt freshman Tracy Weaver will provide help off the bench.  Four new faces also enter the W&J lineup this winter as freshman in Bobbi Jo Hibbitts (5-9), Amanda Capalingo (5-7), Bridget Guarascio (5-5) and Abbey Miller (5-4). W&J begins the season on November 16th and 17th at the Johns Hopkins Tournament.
 

WAYNESBURG YELLOW JACKETS (4-20 in 2000-01)
The Waynesburg College women’s basketball team is showing improvement after a 1-22 finish in 2000 and a 4-20 finish in 2001. But for head coach Terry Acker and his Yellow Jackets have yet to record a PAC win in those two years including consecutive last place finishes. Two key components from last year’s team are returning, as the Yellow Jackets welcome back their leading scorer and their point guard. Junior Kyana Bradley led the team with 8.7 points per game last season. The team’s floor leader will continue to be point guard Trisha Pollock who returns for her senior season as the team’s third leading scorer from a year ago.
 

WESTMINSTER LADY TITANS (16-9 in 2000-01)
After posting just 14 wins in the three previous seasons combined, the Westminster Lady Titans turned the corner last season, posting a 16-9 mark that included a perfect 10-0 record against PAC schools. Now, fifth-year head coach Jan Reddinger returns eight letterwinners, including all five starters from a year ago, as Westminster looks to build on the school-record 12-game winning streak the Lady Titans closed the 2000-01 season with. Senior guard Robin Thayer has been the team's leading scorer each of the past three seasons and averaged 16.2 points per game a year ago. With 933 career points, Thayer needs only 67 to become the fifth player in Lady Titan history to reach 1,000 career points and needs 253 this year to surpass Colleen Dion (1,185 points from 1992-96) as the program's all-time leading scorer. The rest of the returnign starters are all juniors: point guard Jennifer Petures (10.6 ppg, 86 assists), forward Teale Ganster (10.1 ppg, 6.0 rpg), guard/forward Samor Himes (9.4 ppg, 8.5 rpg) and guard Jaime Lynn (4.8 ppg, 60 assists). Other key returnees include junior guards Ashley Kenney and Kristen Karatinos and sophomore Alicia Anderson. Westminster is ineligible for the conference title as the College completes the third and final year of its reclassification from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division III.
 

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