Connector Editor

On paper, it may seem like a rough year for the 2015-2016 Women’s River Hawk Basketball team. They lost two seniors last year: Jasmine McRoy and Shannon Samuels. Freshman Labert stustained an injury that will bench her for the beginning of the season. The team is left with only two notable seniors and many young players.

None of the issues will deter the team from being competitive this year, however. Second-year Head Coach Janerie Harris is optomistic about the young team.

“We have a lot of our shooters returning, pretty much all of our shooters returning,” said Coach Harris. “We have a couple good post players that we’ve added to the roster, and Nazarae (Butler, guard) brings that same type of speed that our seniors had, so I really like the development of some of our returners too, so I think that they’re going to surprise some people.”

While the absence of McRoy and Samuels will leave a void to be filled, the River Hawks do have several experienced players that can lead the team. Lindsay Doucet, Center, has been dubbed the team’s “speaking captain.” Beyond being a leader in games, who averaged 9.3 points per game last year, she also leads the team in terms of being there for her teammates.

“She has been a phenomenal player for us on and off the court, in that she’s been just someone that people can go to and talk to and everything else,” said Coach Harris.

Another returner who is well valued by the team is guard Melissa Frase. She is the only other senior on the team other than Doucet, and and has transformed into an outside threat, scoring from behind the arc three times in five games last season.

“Mel, our other senior, she has been a leader in her own right,” said Coach Harris. “She is a little more quiet and she is a little more laid back, but she is one of our hardest workers and she cares about this team. She wants to win, and she has been a valuable asset as well.”

Aside from the two seniors, this River Hawk team boasts the luxury of having skilled young sophmores and freshmen who are taking on leadership roles as well. A sophomore forward, Nicole Riddick, was named the second captain. “She is only a sophomore, but she has such a huge voice and she is so mature; she is way beyond her years,” said Coach Harris.

Brianna Rudolf, a guard and also a sophomore, will play a big role this year on the team as well. “I think she is probably one of the strongest competitors on the team,” said Coach Harris.

Coach Harris also spoke about other players that will be seeing more minutes and stepping up. “Nicole Hayner has been great, and we’ve needed her to step up and be a leader for us and be a solid threat for us. And Lauren Harris, she’s even probably put in the most work out of anybody in the summertime, and I think she is going to be able to give us some valuable minutes when she is on the court with her rebounding and her defense,” said Harris.

As far as filling the void left by Samules and McRoy, no other player may go farther in that endeavor than Asia Mitchell-Owens, an junior who will be the starting point guard to open the season.

Mitchell-Owens looks forward to working on an iron-clad defensive game. “I’m looking just to be aggressive and always working hard defensively,” said Mitchell-Owens, “making sure that we’re always on the same page, and overall just being more aggressive.”

The River Hawks will also feature three new freshmen this year: the before mentioned Nazarae Butler, forward Oda Shackelford, and forward Katherine Smith, whom we were lucky to steal from Indiana. “We have Katherine Smith who is from Indiana and she is a post player for us as well, she has a really nice release on her shot, and she comes from a program where they’ve won state championships,” said Coach Harris.

You will be able to see all these players in action at the Costello Gym Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. against Columbia.

“I would say our biggest strength is our fight,” said Mitchell-Owens. “We all have a lot of fight in us, and we want to do well, we want to get better, and I don’t think there is anything better than a team that is willing to learn, willing to progress on the things that they are learning.”