Returning all but two players from last year's squad, the women's basketball team has experience, chemistry and depth working in its favor for the 2005-06 season.
The Jumbos return the core of a backcourt characterized by speed and solid ball-handling that is equally dangerous on the perimeter and in the lane. Senior tri-captain Jess Powers, a four-year starter and a focal point for the Jumbos' shooting and passing game, will be joined by last season's sixth-woman, junior Valerie Krah, whose presence off the bench infused the Jumbos with perimeter shooting (a team-leading 12.2 points per game) and a defensive quickness that yielded nearly two steals per game last season.
Ideally, rounding out the trio would be senior tri-captain Julia Verplank, who has captained the Jumbos' offense at point guard throughout most of her career. However, since going down with a knee injury during a game last January and spending the rest of the season on the sideline - a span in which the Jumbos lost eight of nine games - Verplank has been plagued by injuries, undergoing knee surgery last year and ankle surgery during the offseason.
During Verplank's absence last season, then-sophomore Taryn Miller-Stevens took over the position. However, Miller-Stevens is studying abroad for the year, leaving one less option for coach Carla Berube.
Without Verplank and Miller-Stevens, the Jumbos will be looking to junior Marilyn Duffy-Cabana, a backup point guard during the past two seasons, and freshman Kim Moynihan to head the offense.
"We're definitely going to miss her on the court," Powers said of Verplank. "It's not only her talent; she brings a lot to the court. We all have so much faith in [Duffy-Cabana and Moynihan] coming in and stepping up. We're not really looking at it as a loss but a chance for those two to gain experience."
That experience will bolster a Jumbo roster already heavy on veterans. The team returns five players that averaged double-digit minutes last season, and several more close behind, and this wealth of in-game experience will likely be a strength of this year's squad.
"I definitely think the fact that young players played a lot last year will help us," Powers said. "They're familiar with playing together as well as playing at this level, and that works to any team's advantage."
The biggest loss for the team comes under the basket, as departed senior Allison Love leaves a post position and 12.2 points per game to be filled. Berube will look to her pair of 6'0" post players, junior Laura Jasinski, Love's frontcourt complement last season, and sophomore Khalilah Ummah, who made the most of limited playing time last year and is stepping into her role under the basket. Rounding out the frontcourt options are senior tri-captain Katherine Miller, 6'2" junior Libby Park, and sophomore Jenna Gomez.
"I think we're going to be a better rebounding team this year with a little more height and aggressiveness under the boards," Berube insisted. "We're going to miss [Love], but with the experienced backcourt we have, we'll be okay."
"I think our offense is going to be tailored to our personnel this year," Berube said. "You'll definitely see that in our play; it will definitely be different. We won't be pounding it inside all the time. There will be a lot of motion, a lot of movement, and we want to get up and down the court. With the guard play we have, we can make it a full-court game."
Due to the late Nov. 1 NESCAC start date for official practices, Tufts is at a disadvantage during their November and December schedules, which pits the team against teams with two weeks of extra practice time.
"We've had to put stuff in right away to be prepared in the beginning of the season," Powers said. "We're utilizing every minute of practice to get things in, and we're used to playing together now."
Heading into the season opener, a Friday night matchup against Suffolk at the Tufts Invitational, Berube is working on fundamentals, the small things that make a team work on the court.
"The goals, for me, are the things that we can do daily, to get better every single day," Berube said. "Winning the small battles in practice, cutting down on turnovers from one day to the next, being able to execute better. Winning NESCAC, making NCAA's are always goals, but we don't talk too much about those long-term goals. It's mostly the daily things that we need to get better at."
