By Mark Simon
D3hoops.com
Let’s be honest — the NYU women slipped off the Division III radar for a while.
The last two seasons the Violets tallied 43 wins, but their third-place finishes in the University Athletic Association and settling for ECAC championships were un-NYU like, considering their level of national success over the previous nine seasons (in which NYU went to at least the Sweet 16 eight times). Other programs in the UAA had caught up or surpassed them.
Rachel Wojdowski averages a team-high 16.3 points per game, shooting 45%. |
It took a little time to convince some, but anyone wondering whether the resurgence was for real got an answer last Sunday when NYU (22-2, 11-2) clinched the UAA title with a 100-89 win at Washington U., in what head coach Janice Quinn said was one of the best games she’s seen in her 22 seasons as a player and coach at the school. The win was NYU’s 11th in a row and 31st in their last 33 games dating back to last season.
The game was a sharp contrast to those from last season, in which the Violets ran a slowdown offense, trying to limit scoring by limiting possessions (“We would have used up a minute at a time if there wasn’t a shot clock,” Quinn said.). NYU held Washington below 60 points twice, but couldn’t total more than 44 points in either contest.
“We actually tried a similar approach to that in the first game in New York, and we had just enough firepower to win,” Quinn said, referring to the 68-58 victory on Jan. 23. “I felt we were ready to go in the opposite direction. You have to be a powerful offensive team to beat Washington. The last four weeks, we revitalized our offense, showing pieces of it to each team we played. I felt we were ready to put it all together.”
There is a quote that appears every year in Quinn’s bio in which she lets people know that, “Despite NYU’s enormous success at the national level, I honestly believe the best is yet to come.”
Two newcomers have had a significant impact on NYU’s program. Junior forward Rachel Wojdowski transferred to NYU from UNC-Wilmington after her second torn ACL last spring left her searching for a school with a good basketball team, but better fitted to her academic interests, in case another tear ended her playing days.
Freshman Adrienne Rochetti has started all but one game at point guard and been very effective, scoring 18 points with seven assists (and only one turnover) against Washington. Freshmen point guards don’t usually start at NYU, but the 5-foot Rochetti has stood tall.
“Everyone was telling us how hard it is to win at Washington,” Rochetti said. “We looked at that as a challenge to conquer. You can run away from it, or you can step up. We fought with everything we had. I love the big game. That’s what you (play) for and work for.’
Said Quinn: “Adrienne Rochetti is that rare kid who has a maturity level beyond her years. Her understanding of the game is rare for a freshman. “Rachel is a physically and mentally tough kid, who goes out with a very upbeat approach. She has the ability to both be intense and be relaxed at the same time.”
Their presence has brought out the best in their fellow starters, easing the pressure on senior guard Lauren D’Ambrosio, and juniors — forward Stephanie Huhn and center Chantal Kazay, all of whom are averaging double figures and enjoying extremely productive seasons. The Violets, in their new offensive look, are strong inside (44 points in the paint against Washington), and outside (D’Ambrosio has made 75 3-pointers), and have a capable bench (reserve Katie Higier is averaging 8.0 points per game on 44% shooting from 3-point range)
“We can glide smoothly from running in transition into a halfcourt (offense),” said Wojdowski, who tallied 21 points and seven assists against Washington and leads the team averaging 16.3 points per game. “This team is very, very good. If you limit one person’s touches, all our other players will have good games.”
That’s why Quinn has spread the credit for the team’s success around. The program is back in the direction that it seemed to have always been in not too long ago.
“Our ‘old timers’ worked hard to bring the program to where they wanted it to be,” Quinn said. “What we’ve done couldn’t be done with just the newcomers. What transpired for us is a nice blend.”
KEYSTONE COMBINATION: The nation’s top scorer is again a sharpshooter guard from the state of Pennsylvania, as the torch has been passed from Misericordia’s Willie Chandler to Ursinus senior guard Dennis Stanton.
The 6-2 Stanton enters this weekend’s Centennial Conference playoffs averaging 31.8 points per game for the 16-9 Bears. He’s also among the national leaders in 3-pointers with 124, which helped increase his scoring average by more than 12 points this season. His best effort was a conference-record 55 points against Franklin & Marshall, which Ursinus might meet again if both teams can get to the championship game.
“I tell everybody that I play on the most unselfish team in the country,” said Stanton, an English major with a 3.4 GPA and Jostens Trophy finalist, when asked the reason for his success. “Coach (Kevin Small) is great at reading the defenses. He’s like an offensive coordinator in football and that’s really helped get me open.”
Stanton hopes to play basketball professionally, but plans to be a teacher if that doesn’t work out. He feels he still needs to improve the other facets of his game to match his scoring ability.
“I’d like to be a better passer, and a better rebounder, and try to improve my 12 to 15-foot pull-up jumper,” Stanton said. “I try to match my offensive intensity on defense. I’m the type of player that will keep shooting, and keep fighting.”
STOP, THIEF: Look at the Ithaca women’s stat sheet, and there’s usually one number that practically leaps off the page and strangles you, much like the Bombers defense has done to opponents this seasons. Junior guard Stephanie Cleary leads all divisions averaging 5.7 steals per game. In her last four games, she’s swiped the ball 33 times, helping Ithaca clinch the Empire 8 regular season title and head into the league playoffs with a 21-3 overall record.
“We play a 3-2 matchup zone, and coach (Dan Raymond) gives me the freedom to go double team,” said Cleary, who also leads the team in scoring at 17.0 points per game. “A lot of my steals come from getting in the passing lane, not off someone’s dribble.”
The thefts have resulted in a lot of easy baskets both for Cleary and teammates like senior guard Jennie Swatling (13.5 points per game). Ithaca returned four starters from last year’s Sweet 16 team, but has battled through injuries to a couple. The high point so far this season has been sweeping St. John Fisher, who won the Empire 8 title last season only to be upset by Ithaca in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m real proud of what our kids have accomplished,” said Raymond, now in his fourth season. “I envision us playing for several more weeks, if we continue to play defense like we are. For us, defense is the key that gets our offense going.”
GAME OF THE YEAR? After rallying from an 18-point halftime deficit to Skidmore, the RPI men still trailed by three points with 17 seconds left last Friday. The Engineers had only committed three fouls, and since Skidmore had the ball, getting it back wasn’t going to be easy.
We don’t normally discuss the art of giving fouls, but in this case, that proved to be a skill that RPI mastered, as the homestanding Red Hawks committed four in a 5-second span, giving themselves a chance.
“You have to make sure you can get to the guy (getting the inbounds pass) before he makes the second pass,” said RPI coach Mike Griffin. “Our players executed that very well. It was a very specialized form of execution.”
After the Thoroughbreds missed the front end of a one-and-one, RPI had just enough time to get a play off, and Tom Schneider capped a regulation-ending 13-0 run with a game-tying 3-pointer with two seconds remaining.
It was Skidmore’s turn to come back in overtime, which it tied on Michael Murray’s 3-pointer at the buzzer. The second overtime belonged to the Red Hawks, who scored the first eight points and went on to win 84-76.
The key to the win (besides the foul-giving) was RPI’s 3-point shooting (15-for-36) and bench play. Reserve Schneider and Paul Halas, who combine to average nine points a night, totaled 40 between them. That gave the Red Hawks a chance on a night in which top scorer Jared Hite was held to eight points. The end result was a much needed win, especially after RPI lost to last-place Vassar earlier in the week. It, along with a win the next day over Union, enabled the Red Hawks to finish in a four-way tie for first instead of a three-way tie for fourth, which would have knocked them out of the playoff picture. So RPI has no qualms with its No. 2 seed.
“We’re excited to be there,” said Griffin, whose team hasn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 1996 “We feel we have as good a shot as anybody.”
The Lonergans, kids, and teams. |
42-10: Mike and Maggie Lonergan admit to being a competitive couple, but right now neither has the upper hand, since both of their Catholic University teams ended the regular season in the same circumstance — with a 20-5 overall record, and in second place in the Capital Athletic Conference. The husband and wife each have a team in the league semifinals on Thursday night, having picked up a win in the first round of the playoffs.
Catholic’s men’s team has a long history of success, but this is something new for the women’s program, which improved from a 13-14 mark a season ago to set a school record for wins.
“This season has been somewhat of a pleasant surprise,” said Maggie, who is in her third season as head coach. “That’s made it all the more enjoyable. People talked about us winning 20 games six or seven games ago, but I didn’t believe it until we did it. We have a senior, Kathleen McGlynn who is having a fantastic season, and the rest of the team is playing to let her go out with a bang.”
That the women’s team’s record has been better than the men’s team on occasion has been something fun for Maggie to tease Mike about. She also got to see the other side of it
“Mike would say the last couple of years that winning wasn’t as fun when they lost,” Maggie said. “When we won and they lost, it was hard because you get so emotionally attached to both teams.”
The Lonergans are one of two coaching couples in Division III (Melissa and Steve Lamie at Grove City are the other). With the help of their families, they’ve managed to balance their responsibilities with taking care of their two children (4-year-old Jack and 3-year old Maggie).
“She gets all the good practice times, so she can go home and give the kids their baths,” Mike said with a laugh.
Each shares in the credit for the other’s success. They can joke about that too. “When his team is struggling, Mike will go around saying he’s my assistant,” Maggie said. “But I tell him that he could never work for me.”
STILL ROLLING ALONG: Much like some doubted NYU’s ability to be at the top this season, others felt the same way about Hardin-Simmons in the post-Kendra Anderson era. With the Division III Player of the Year having graduated, there may not have been the expectation that the Cowgirls would be among the nation’s elite, but they haven’t missed a beat this season. They head into the ASC playoffs as the favorite with a 23-2 overall record.
“I don’t even feel that we’ve played our best basketball yet,” said second-year head coach Shanna Briggs. “That’s a good feeling for a coach to have.”
The team got past looking for Anderson’s presence pretty quickly, after a season-opening loss to defending national champion Trinity (Texas) opened their eyes to the level at which they had to play. Senior forward Lauren Harris (16.2 points per game) and junior point guard Diana Martinez (13.6 per game) have emerged as the team’s best scoring threats, with Harris, a Jostens Trophy finalist, breaking the school’s 3-point shooting mark (she has 76 this season). Five freshmen play significant minutes. They make up for the lack of a dominating superstar.
“It’s been an odd thing,” Briggs said. “Different people have stepped in all year to fill the void, but in a very unselfish matter. The whole team has managed to shoulder the load.”
ON DISPLAY: The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame has added the game ball and other memorabilia from the Moravian women's game this past Dec. 7 in which the Greyhounds set an all-divisions NCAA record by making all 35 of their free throw attempts in a 61-53 Commonwealth Conference victory versus Susquehanna University to its permanent display.
The ball along with a game program, a ticket stub and a box score from the game were added to the Division III exhibit in the Coaches Gallery the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. A videotape of all 35 made free throws will be added to the Basketball Hall of Fame's "This Season in Basketball" update at the end of the year.
