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"We came so close last year," senior point guard Corey Lee Hewitt says of last year's MAAC Championship Game run. A season ago, the Women's Basketball team came up 6 points short of a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Almost in unison, the seniors on this year's squad claim, "Our main goal is to win the MAAC Championship."
The Greyhounds lost only one player from last year, Susan Bryce, who is now an assistant coach with the team. Everyone on the team has a year of experience playing in the MAAC, with the exception of three freshmen, one sophomore transfer (Jill DeYoung, University of Buffalo, who won't be available until the 1999-00 season), and 6'3" sophomore Sherika Wilson, who redshirted last year because of an injury. Head Coach Pat Coyle returns for her seventh season at the helm of the Greyhounds, and only needs four wins to reach 100 for her career.
Leading this years team will be Pre-season First Team All-MAAC players, seniors Mary Anne Kirsch (14.4 points per game, 8.2 rebounds per game) and Jina Mosley (11.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg). "That's definitely an honor," explains Kirsch of her selection, "and it puts pressure on you; but it's a good pressure." Mosley agrees, adding "It can make you a target." Kirsch, also an Academic All-MAAC Player at the power forward / center position, needs only 34 points to reach 1,000 for her career. Mosley is one of the most athletic players in the MAAC, and can play both the off guard and small forward slots.
Three other seniors make up the leadership core of this team. Corey Lee Hewitt, the team's floor general, is described by her teammates and coach as, "the best point guard in the MAAC." This feeling is not only held by the team, but by much of the MAAC as well, as Hewitt was named to the Pre-season All-MAAC Third Team. Theresa Cooney, a walk-on her freshman year, will push her teammates in practice and for playing time, and describes herself as the team's "defensive specialist." Coach Coyle says that, of all the players, perhaps "Theresa knows her role the best, and has accepted it." Jen Bongard, who came in at the same time as this year's senior class, but still has a year of eligibility left after this season, is a smooth shooting lefty who has had problems with injuries. "You really can't control injuries," she says, "but we work hard in the off-season to combat them."
Loyola looks deeper in both the backcourt and the frontcourt this year, and could even have trouble finding playing time for everyone. "I don't think that will be a problem," Bongard says, "this team has a lot of maturity and no one is selfish." Hewitt adds, "We all know our function, our role, that's the difference." Cooney goes on even further, "Most of us have lived together for a few years, we know each other." Although there is a strong upperclass presence on this team, the sophomore class is definitely worth their weight in gold. Forward Erica Rath, a Pre-season 2nd Team All-MAAC selection, was an All-Rookie selection last year. Very good around the basket and a good shot out to 16 feet, Rath presents match-up problems at her position. "Rath is a very skilled offensive player," Coach Coyle says. Shannon Cohen, who spent much of last season behind Hewitt at the point, proved her poise when she had the game winning basket against Manhattan last year in a 73-71 Loyola victory. "Shannon is a much better player this year than she was last year, and she was good last year," claims Coyle.
Elsewhere in the MAAC, Siena earned the top spot in the Pre-season Coaches Poll, edging Loyola by only 2 points in the voting. "Siena and us always play good games. They go into overtime a lot, and are very competitive," Coyle says. Siena returns a deep squad, including Pre-season Player of the Year Selection Melanie Halker, a 6'1" forward, guard Erin Boland, another 1st Team selection, and Colleen Herden, a 6'3" center who was selected to the 3rd Team. Fairfield claimed the third spot in the poll, returning 1st Team selection Gail Strumpf. Rounding out the top five are St. Peter's and Iona. "Those teams, especially Siena, represent our rivals. Siena more than the others because they had a freshmen class like ours come in at the same time," Hewitt says.
For the Greyhounds, it all starts with defense, as they forced opponents into .376 Field Goal Percentage, good enough for first in the MAAC and 23rd in the nation. Last year, however, the Greyhounds did not have the true shot-blocking abilities that the now-available Wilson gives them. Mobile and quick around the basket, Wilson has natural ability which will be polished during the course of the year. "What Sherika needs now is on-court experience," says Coyle. "She's going to be a fantastic player as she develops." Also, the depth and experience this team has will lend itself to pressure defense.
One of the questions surrounding the Loyola squad for the past few years is the lack of a consistent outside shooter. The "word" on Loyola is that they simply pound the ball inside on offense. The team agrees with this, as Kirsch admits, "Our offensive plan is set up to get the ball inside." Coach Coyle goes further, saying, "Our outside shooters haven't had to shoot, but Corey Hewitt can really shoot. Cooney has worked on her outside shot. We brought in two freshmen that can flat out shoot the rock." Injuries in the past have also depleted the Hounds of consistent outside shooters. Both Mosley and Bongard are deadly shooters, but have had trouble with injuries, as last year Mosley had problems with her shoulder and Bongard continues having trouble with a recurring injury. Hopefully, staying injury-free this year will add to the Greyhounds inside-outside punch.
As Pat Coyle nears 100 wins, she sees the strengths of this year's squad as, "they have tremendous senior leadership. They [the seniors] are five highly motivated players, who are unselfish." As for weaknesses, she responds that she really can't see any. "This team can go a legit 11 or 12 deep, and that's not an exaggeration." As for a starting five, Coyle said that's really determined in practice, "I don't really have a starting five, and as I told them anyway, whether you are starter or whether you are only in for 5 minutes, you play as hard as possible for that period of time. That's how you win."
There are a lot of expectations for this year's Loyola Women's Basketball team. How will Loyola's student body respond? Despite last year's amazing 20-9 overall (13-5 MAAC) record, fans didn't exactly flock to Reitz to see the games. In fact, support for women's basketball is very limited to what seems to be a core group of dedicated fans. "It's kind of disappointing," Coyle says of the fan support "but if they just came out to see what we have to offer, maybe they would find out it is a lot of fun." Perhaps with what promises to be a great season of basketball, the fans will realize what type of tradition is being built here. "I think this senior class is building a tradition. Hopefully, it will continue," Hewitt explains.
The season begins on November 17th with a home contest against in-state rival Maryland. The other non-conference home game is against Yale, on November 29th. Some highlighted MAAC home contests include Fairfield on January 19th, St. Peter's on February 3rd, and the showdown with Siena on February 11th. As with all basketball games, admission for students is free, and fan support is much appreciated.
LET'S GO GREYHOUNDS!