Title and Return to the Division III National Tourney
BEREA, OHIO -- The Baldwin-Wallace College women's basketball team faces a major rebuilding year in 2004-05. Despite that fact, veteran Yellow Jacket Head Coach Cheri Harrer is cautiously optimistic about her team this winter.
"We return some solid veteran players but we lost some very good one's too," said Harrer, the winningest women's basketball coach in school history with 278 wins. "You can't just replace an Erika Schultz. We will have to do it by committee."
A year ago, Harrer's Yellow Jackets had an outstanding 23-4 overall record and tied for the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title. But a loss in the semi finals round of the OAC Tournament cost her team a chance at the postseason.
"Our goals remain the same," said Harrer. "We would like to win the OAC regular season title and the OAC Tournament title and get the OAC's automatic berth in the Division III National Tournament.
"We will look to our veterans for leadership and experience," said Harrer. "We feel like we have some veteran players who have the talent and ability to step up and make an even bigger contribution this year.
"We also had another solid year of recruiting and have a number of incoming players who have the talent to push our upperclass players to be better," said Harrer. "We are looking forward to preseason camp to get a first-hand look at the competition in practice."
The Yellow Jackets enter the season without a senior on their roster. Juniors Nikki Altenweg, Jenn Neal and Lindsay Mamula are back as the elder statemen. The trio have helped B-W to compile a 48-9 mark the past two years, including an OAC regular season title (2003-2004) and an NCAA Division III Tournament berth (2002-2003).
Altenweg returns as the starting point guard after averaging 6.6 points per game and 96 assists. She led the OAC in assists to turnover ratio. She also made 18 three-pointers and shot 47 percent from beyond the arc and canned 80 percent of her foul shots.
Neal had a solid season in 2003-2004 after missing all of the previous year following knee surgery. Neal scored 4.5 ppg. and grabbed 2.3 rpg. and led the team with 24 blocked shots. Look for her to be even better this year.
Mamula, namedcto the all-tournament team at the 2003 Greater Cleveland Tip-Off Tournament, returns to add strength on the inside. She averaged 6.3 ppg. and 3.2 rpg. and shot 71 percent from the charity stripe.
Joining Altenweg as the other returning starter this fall is sophomore guard Kelly Williams. She started 11 games last year and averaged 3.6 ppg. with 42 assists. The key with Williams is her quickness and tenacious defense.
One player that Harrer will rely on this season to make up for the loss of Schultz is sophomore forward Michelle White. She came off the bench in all 27 games to finish third on the team in scoring at 7.1 ppg. and second with 3.8 rpg. White also canned 51 percent of her field goals and 50 percent of her three-pointers.
Another player who could see plenty of action on the inside and who came on strong last year is sophomore forward Jessica Latimer. Although she averaged 3.2 ppg. and 3.2 rpg. in 2003-2004, look for Latimer to significantly up those averages this year.
In addition, look for sophomores Shelly Altizer and Kim Johnson to both look for more varsity playing time this season.
Joining Altenweg and Williams in the backcourt as returning varsity players are sophomores Andrea Boriska, Steffani Jaworski and Kristen Matushevski.
Boriska missed most of last year due to a foot injury. She played in just four games. If she is healthy this year, look for her to possibly be the three-point shooter that B-W desperately needed last year. Jaworski made a significant impact a year ago and adds defense and perimeter shooting to the attack. She played in 23 games and averaged 2.7 ppg., canned 10 treys, passed for 14 assists and made 12 steals. Matushevski played in 14 games and averaged 1.5 ppg. and made nine of 15 field goals.
This year's freshman class has the talent and potential to make a big impact. The class includes Alyson Cotter, Jessica Diaz, Carly Flowers, Alison Landaw, Cara Shiplett, Stacia Shrider and Ashley Westenbarger. Look for Cotter to help both inside and outside. At 5'10", she can shoot the three-pointer, run the floor and rebound. Diaz will look for playing time in the backcourt. Flowers should push for playing time on the inside. Landaw will also look for time in the backcourt. Shiplett, at 5'10", has solid scoring and rebounding ability and will push for considerable varsity playing time. Shrider, at 5'9", is strong and should help on the boards. Westenbarger offers Harrer a big guard who has the ability to shoot from the perimeter.
B-W opens its season at the annual Greater Cleveland College Tip Off Tournament on Friday and Saturday, November 19-20 at Notre Dame College of Ohio when the Yellow Jackets play Case Western Reserve University at 6:00 p.m. B-W has won the last two GCC tourney titles.
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