Head Coach: Laurel Heilman (10th year, 104-128 @ SRU; 18th year, 213-233 overall)
Key Losses: Sasha Sales (10.8 ppg., 8.4 rpg.); Amanda Nero (11.0 ppg., 87.2% FT percentage).
Returning Starters: Chere’ Marshall (5-7, redshirt senior, 6.5 ppg.); Nikki Presto (5-6 senior, 9.1 ppg); Julie Molloy (5-11 senior, 10.4 ppg.)
Other Returning Players: Haley Geyer (5-11, sophomore).
Key Newcomers: Bethany Caudill (5-9 freshman, Sandusky, OH. Perkins HS); Alex Beatty (5-10 freshman, Woodstock, Ontario/Woodstock Collegiate); Emilee Vitez (6-0 freshman, Copley, OH/River HS); Amanda Mikatavage (5-11 freshman, Reading/Muhlenberg HS); Tynesha Lee (6-2 freshman, McKees Rocks/Sto Rox HS).
Coaches Comments:I really look forward to going to practice. We are teachers on the floor and right now, we need a lot of instruction. We are taking things slow and although the kids are making a lot of mistakes, they are learning from it. Ready or not, the young kids are going to get thrown into the fire, but hopefully the returnees are going to lead the way. Hopefully by conference time, they’ll have learned and be ready to go. One thing is for sure, and that is there will be new kids in the mix.
We might end up starting five guards and hopefully that will cause some mis-match problems and get some of the big kids on our opponents out of the paint. If we can do that, we can spread things out, penetrate the seams and hopefully we’ll be able to push the ball up the floor. As for the new kids, some will be ready right away, while for others, it will take some time.
I really like the effort I am seeing from the kids every day. The older kids -- Chere’ Marshall, Nikki Presto and Julie Molloy -- are going to have to be good leaders for the younger players, both on and off the floor. When you are a senior, the clock is ticking away so they know this is it. As tough as this league is, if we stay healthy and get some breaks, who knows, maybe we can surprise some people.
Nikki (Presto) and Chere’ (Marshall) have suffered through a lot of injuries and it is extremely important for us to keep them healthy. Really, we haven’t seen Chere’ for two years. She has had four different casts with a couple of surgeries and she has done a remarkable job of getting herself back into shape. She is so smart and really, she is the coach on the floor. And I can’t say enough about Nikki. She went down late last season and has just done a remarkable job of getting back to where she was prior to the injury. She worked really hard over the summer and she appears ready to run. Hopefully, we will have some people to run with her. Julie Molloy is a complete player and I am hoping she will have a breakout year for us because we have seem glimpses of it. She can go for 20 on any given night against anybody and do it in different ways.
As for the conference, Cal was in the elite eight and they have two of the best players in the league and Gannon made it to the Sweet 16 and they have everybody back. If they (Gannon) are going to do it, this is their year. IUP was the conference champ the last three years and although they have nine new players, a number of them are transfers. In this league, on any given night, anything can happen and if you are not ready to play, you are going to lose.
