After a promising start in the first half of the 2010-11 season, things went downhill in the second half for the York College women's basketball team. Shortly after jumping out to a 4-0 conference record, the Cardinals lost two of their top players for the remainder of the season..
The Cardinals struggled to fill the void and they fell short of their goal of winning a CUNYAC title. By season's end, coach
Winnifred Brown and the Cardinals were facing the tough task of replacing a total of four starters for the 2011-12 season.
It's been challenging,” said head coach
Winnifred Brown. “We lost a lot, but the girls we have now are energetic and eager to learn. “
The Cardinals do return one of their starters, and it was one of their best players from a year ago.
Shadae Rice, a 2011 CUNY Athletic Conference All-Star, led the team in scoring a season ago, averaging 14.2 points per contest, while also handing out three assists and grabbing 4.8 boards per game.
“She was the focal point throughout the season last year,” said Brown. “She definitely has to be more vocal this year and lead the younger players. I expect her to step up and be the focal point of the offense again.”
Also returning this season is
Joanna Josama, who managed to lead the team in rebounding (6.8 per game) despite coming off the bench for most of the season.
“She's a strong rebounder for her size and I can see her leadership is progressing this year. I see her stepping up this season for us, noted Brown.”
Shadea Greene, who joined the team in the second half of last year, is expected to play a bigger role as well. Green averaged 4.5 points per game coming off the bench, while playing solid defense.
“Her defense is definitely going to help us,” added Brown. “She's relentless on the defensive side of the ball. With her energy, everyone else will respond to that.”
In the frontcourt, newcomer
Vania St. Louis, a 5-8 forward, should be a scoring and defensive threat for the Cardinals this season.
Danielle Dunn, a 6-0 center, will be relied upon to grab rebounds as well.
Overall, size is a concern for coach Brown going into the season.
“We have a small team this year. If we don't get out and run we're going to have problems in the half court. We just got to get back to basics and focus on boxing out to grab rebounds.”
Fortunately, quickness is the strength of the Cardinals squad this season.
“Our quickness is definitely our strength, added Brown. “We are small, so we are going to look to get out and run. We have five or six player that can get out on the open floor and finish.”
York opens the season at home with a tough non-conference contest against New York University on November 15. They also have difficult non-conference games against Rutgers-Newark, William Paterson and Ramapo College.
The Cardinals open up conference play on December 1 when they travel to the College of Staten Island. Other games of note include a January 27 home game against defending CUNYAC champion Baruch College and a match-up with rival Brooklyn College at home on February 8
th.
Admission to all home games is free. In addition,
live stats will be available for all home games and select road games throughout the season.
