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.
#jmo#
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