Josie Migash is among the Cardinals' veterans who enter this season with high expectations. Photo courtesy CUA Athletic Communications

By Ryan Scott
D3hoops.com 

The 2015-2016 season for the Catholic women really started in January of 2015.

With their success in recent years, the goal is always to compete for a conference championship and more, but with such a young squad, it's difficult to know exactly what the team's ceiling is. As conference play began last season, Coach Matt Donohue saw the team become aware of its potential.

"We realized last year that we could be that good. Now, [having won the conference tournament] we're going to get everyone's best effort night in, night out. We can't take those opportunities for granted."

The three senior captains were well aware of this, too. Having been freshmen on the school's best ever women's squad, going 27-2 and reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2013, they understand what it takes to compete at the level this team is both ready and expecting to compete this year.

"Having the experience of that team is so valuable," says senior forward Josie Migash, "We're going to take it and use it this year."

Moments after the 2015 championship game, Donohue and his captains were talking, inspired to build on their success and reach the next level this season.

"They approached me, wanting to be challenged, be more prepared out of the gate, and be more prepared in the off-season."

Part of that preparation is scheduling strong. Catholic opened on the road at Randolph-Macon, an ODAC team that won 20 games last year. It was a tough, four point loss that saw the Cardinals give up a lead late. Junior Melissa Errico came off the bench to lead all scorers with 26, including 12 in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough to hold off a strong Yellow Jackets squad playing at home. Catholic did follow up the loss with a win against Ferrum the next day.

Before the weekend Donohue said, "We'll know where we are Friday night and Saturday and we'll know where we need to improve."

One of those improvements will be an emphasis on free throws, especially after rule changes implemented this year.

Point guard Michelle DeSantis, a junior who led the team in scoring last season, says, "We noticed the changes in pre-season. We're going to have to play smarter defense, save our fouls. We're also going to have to be better shooting free throws. They matter more with these new rules."

In the fourth quarter against Randolph-Macon, Catholic didn't step to the free throw line even once while giving the Yellow Jackets 12 opportunities.

Regardless of the opening disappointment, Donohue knows he's got a strong team and scheduled strong intentionally to prepare the squad for an incredibly tough Landmark Conference schedule. Lots of teams are bringing back huge chunks of their rosters, not to mention the "new" face of Moravian's pre-season All-American, Alexis Wright, back for a fifth year after missing her senior campaign with injury.

"I think Juniata finished sixth last year, and we split with them," says Donohue, "Scranton lost three great players, but they had such a strong supporting cast, you almost can't even call them supporting."

The Cardinals see everything coming together for a special year.

"We're treating every practice like a game," says DeSantis, "It's a new kind of intensity."

This largely stems from Donohue, says Migash: "We see his desire and determination and we build off that. His concentration on the details in imperative; it takes all of those little things to win."

Of course, Donohue is quick to pass credit on to the players.

"I've always tried to surround myself with good people. Our assistant coaches are fantastic. The atmosphere of athletic success is all around us at Catholic. We bring in good players. We focus on players with the right character, right determination, and we help them develop."

Migash sees the difference experience and development are making on the floor.

"It's all about communication. We have to be always talking. The captains need to be coaching, on the floor, on the bench, wherever we are. Communication is key."

With so many returning players, there is a question whether the talented freshmen would see any playing time (three of four did see the court opening weekend).

"There's a different pace in college," says Donohue, "We like to work the freshmen in gradually, but one of the great things about building a program is the respect for those who've gone before. Our seniors learned that respect as freshmen and they pass it on. We're a team."

This team started building from last season, a fact recognized by d3hoops.com Top 25 voters, who made Catholic the only ranked women's team from the Mid-Atlantic in the preseason.

"It's great to be recognized like that, with so many great teams [in our region]," says Donohue, "But I'm not going to say I'm thrilled to have that spotlight on us."

Like it or not, the spotlight is shining bright for Catholic women's basketball. The only question left: how far can they go?

Every second counts for Wesley

25. 50. 1,000. 60,000. There are four numbers on the whiteboard in the Wesley locker room. 25 games. 50 halves. 1,000 minutes. 60,000 seconds. .

"These are the only seconds we get," says first year head-coach, Dean Burrows, "it's the only time we have, and we have to earn out right to play more minutes than what's out there."

It's not clear whether his team took those words to heart in the opening half of the season, at home against Virginia Wesleyan, but finding themselves down 15 at the break, they sure got the message by the end of the game, knocking off the d3hoops.com No. 2 preseason team 92-91 in Dover.

Burrows takes over the team from Jerry Kobasa, who was honored before the opener for a decade of coaching at Wesley, his alma mater, and for taking the program from mediocre to competitive, including four NCAA Tournament appearances. Burrows, who had been an assistant with the Wolverines for three years, has nothing but high praise for his mentor.

"He was grooming me all along, hoping I'd get this opportunity. I'm forever grateful," said Burrows. "He's like a father to me. I lost my father in 2011; Coach and I came together at that point. I'm lucky. I've learned a lot from him."

Much of the production in the opener came from underclassmen, sophomore JW Lawson led the squad in minutes, points, and rebounds, but when the game was on the line, Wesley's two senior captains, Wayne Lennon and Anthony Bowers took over, scoring 10 of the final 12 points to seal a terrific comeback.

Said Burrows, "We thought last year we had a pretty good team. It didn't work out. We had a sense of entitlement and our guys learned they have to earn everything."

They've also learned that every second counts – and they're counting the seconds until they get back on the court again.

Conference previews

In the Landmark, Catholic was the top pick for both men and women. On the men's side, Susquehanna and Scranton are coach's picks to challenge for the title, while on the women's side, Scranton is the clear No. 2, with Moravian and Susquehanna garnering a lot of votes, although these two schools did start a combined 0-3 over the first weekend.

The CAC women's race is both tough and wide open. Coaches gave first place votes to three schools, No. 1 Mary Washington, No. 2 Christopher Newport, and No. 3 Marymount, with York and Salisbury only a few points behind. On the men's side, Christopher Newport is a heavy favorite, with Salisbury picking up two first place votes and edging St. Mary's by one point in the preseason poll, but the men's teams went 10-1 over the first weekend, so there are a lot of strong contenders.

Stevenson edged out Lycoming and Albright in the MAC Commonwealth men's poll, with all three teams receiving first place votes. The conference surprised many with their strength and competitiveness last year and are looking to improve again. On the women's side, Albright is the unanimous pick preseason. The Lions won 21 games last year, graduated only two seniors and return conference play of the year, Kelecia Harris. Albright defeated Lancaster Bible and Neumann quite handily over the weekend.

The Centennial was among the strongest men's conferences in the country last year, with the three leading teams from 2014-2015 picked to contend again. Franklin and Marshall, losing only one player to graduation, garnered 14 first place votes (SIDs also vote in the CC poll), with Dickinson and Johns Hopkins following closely, each with some first place votes as well. With eight conference teams playing opening weekend, only two, McDaniel and F&M, emerged unscathed; Gettysburg and Swarthmore have yet to play. On the women's side, McDaniel and Johns Hopkins tied atop the poll with the already 2-0 McDaniel squad given the nod due to more first place votes. In all, five teams received at least one first place vote and the top four squads were separated by just nine points.

Games to watch this week

In women's action, Gettysburg plays No. 20 Geneseo State at Frostburg, Marymount hosts Brooklyn Friday after having gone to Randolph-Macon midweek, Catholic gets Trinity (TX) in the first game of the Johns Hopkins tournament on Saturday, and Moravian hosts Cabrini that afternoon.

For the men, Mary Washington head to Lynchburg on Wednesday, Dickinson and Stevenson play at the Hoopsville Classic on Friday, which also sees Salisbury play Southern Vermont. At the same tournament on Saturday, Stevenson gets Emory and Dickinson plays St. John Fisher.

Chime in

We are always on the lookout for good Mid-Atlantic region stories. I'm especially interested in statistical milestones and behind the scenes successes – these aren't always as easy to find in headlines and box scores. Contact me at ryan.scott@d3sports.com or @ryanalanscott on Twitter.

Around the Mid-Atlantic was written by Ryan Scott during the 2015-16 season. He now writes Around the Nation.