Women’s Basketball soul searching
John C. Longton III
Sports Editor
The women’s basketball team hosted the Schenectady Royals on Saturday and fell short 73-60. Their record has dropped to 1-18 and they can’t seem to get over the hump.
A team riddled with injuries and and little interest dressed only six players for the Schenectady game and ran out of gas toward the end of the game.
Last year the team went 18-9 and had an 11-5 conference record. That was due large in part to the presence of My’Asia Alston. Alston averaged 24 points a game and seemed to score the ball at will. She was 5th in the nation in points per game and was rewarded with a full ride scholarship to Merrimack College in Massachusetts. This year, the team has no My’Asia and have to rely on each other to score. It’s a tough task when your bench is only one person.
Sophomore Deirdre Werner from Brunswick, leads the team in scoring with just over 11 points a game. She also grabs about five boards a game and is a big contributor to the team on the court.
“There was a lot more experience on the team last year,” said Werner when asked what the difference was between this year’s and last year’s team. “Its different not having My’Asia. She handles the ball and was a lot of our scoring,” added Werner.
The dynamic of the team this year is constantly changing with injuries and fatigue. Games become very long when your whole team has to play 30 plus minutes a game. They still show up and put in work.
“I think they’ve come a very long way long way,” said head coach Rich Gilooly. “A lot of teams in a season like this could pack it in and not work. They come out and work hard every day.”
Gilooly is a first year coach at Hudson Valley and currently has an interim title. Despite his slow start his players but into his system and believe that he should remain the women’s basketball coach.
“I think he’s doing very well to be honest,” said Werner. “He’s a very good experienced coach. He’s very good at explaining the game.”
Gilooly faces the tough task of only having three returning players and some of his staff haven’t played basketball in years. He seems to have his team playing hard, but it’s tough to finish games when your roster is only six or seven players deep.
“It’s easy for me because I only have to make one substitution,” stated Gilooly facetiously. He is really impressed that his team has not faltered and still give it their all.
The team has six games left on the season then it’s time for Gilooly, the players and the athletic department to hit the recruiting trail and fill a roster for next year so that they don’t run into the same problems they’re facing. Their next home game is in two weeks when they play host to North Country Monday Feb. 8 at 5 p.m.
