Greetings from Wellesley Basketball!
As the calendar turns to November we continue to prepare for our season opener against Roger Williams University (RI) on Thursday, November 19th. We have had 17 practices and two scrimmages thus far and although we are still waiting for our four fall sport team members to join us, the eight who have been preparing since October 15th continue to improve and impress.
On Sunday, November 2nd, 12 former team members returned to campus to participate in the 20th Annual Alumnae Scrimmage. After 40-minutes of back-n-forth competitive basketball, the game ended in a 58-58 tie. We were paced by starting post players KD Stearns '12 (Florida) and Julia Thomas '09 (California) with 22 points/19 rebounds and 14 points/21 rebounds respectively. Senior Courtney Richter (Pennsylvania) contributed 10 points while First Year Elisha Orama (Florida) commanded attention with her offensive leadership at the point and defensive on-ball pressure. Special thanks to the following Wellesley Women for returning to campus to play: Jen Olsen '93, Jill Seaman '98, Heather Latham '98, Nora Boukus 00, Meg Barao '01, Alessa Podolak '02, Kristen Doeberl '05, Bridget Harris '05, Erin Johnson '05, Laura Weslander '06, Catie Romasco '06, and Laura Jasinski.
Just four days later we hosted Gordon College in our second scrimmage of the preseason. Down to just seven players (Elisha suffered a sprained ankle during Tuesday's practice) our "game goals" were to reduce our turnovers, make a higher percentage of our uncontested shots and free throws, and play better team defense. In a complete team effort, we won 69-52. Courtney (7/14), KD (7/14) and Julia (6/9) paced us with 20, 14, and 12 points respectively while KD and Julia also pulled down 14 and 11 rebounds for their second "double double." Point guard Nicole Labbee '11 (Massachusetts) did a terrific job igniting our running game while also nabbing a team-high four steals. Lindsay Migliore '11 (Michigan) and Kayla Scire '12 (Massachusetts) were instrument off the bench as both provided much-need sparks both halves and combined to score 15 points and dish off six assists. First Year Robyn Burleson (Washington) was solid in all aspects of her play, committing zero turnovers and grabbing a team-high four offensive rebounds in 26 minutes of action. With the exception of our turnovers we improved significantly in the areas targeted.
In closing let me make a special appeal to all to join the Friends of Wellesley College Athletics (FOWCA) if you have yet to do so. FOWCA provides significant support to current student-athletes across all 13 sports, political as well as financial. During my 18-year tenure at the helm, Wellesley Basketball has benefitted tremendously from donations made to this group, most recently in the form of the addition of a new state-of-the-art scoreboard for our home court. Former Wellesley Hoopsters Erin Johnson and Jill Seaman are current National Committee Board Members. In would be of special significance to me if Wellesley Basketball became the sport with the most members before I conclude my coaching career here in June 2009.
With Blue Pride.
~Kathy
Posted: 11/10/2008