Bullets shoot for second straight CC crown
Jessica Porter shocked the Centennial with a terrific break-out performance that won her Rookie of the Year. Porter led the team in blocks and averaged 7 rebounds a game. Photo Courtesy of Gettysburg College
Courtesy of GCC&M
Despite returning with nearly its entire lineup intact, the Gettysburg College women’s basketball team knows it will need to up its game if it is going to defend the first Centennial Conference championship in program history.
Gettysburg claimed its first conference title last season with a remarkable run to end the year. The Bullets won 19 of 21 games to start 2013, culminating in a 48-46 victory over Swarthmore College in the CC Championship.
“The big key was when things started clicking, we were getting input from a lot of people,” said Head Coach Mike Kirkpatrick, who enters his 25th season at the helm. “We won a lot of close games, but they easily could have gone the other way.”
Kirkpatrick was named the CC Coach of the Year following Gettysburg’s tremendous season, which saw the team finish 21-7 overall and 16-4 in the conference. The team advanced to the NCAA Division III Tournament where it fell to William Paterson University 71-64.
What was a relatively young lineup last winter is now an experienced and veteran corps of players. A dozen players return, including seven with starting experience. The only absence from last year’s roster is junior Jenna Swope, who started 23 games a year ago. Swope suffered an injury over the summer and will miss the entire 2013-14 campaign.
While Kirkpatrick acknowledges last year’s success will give his team confidence heading into this campaign, he wants his players to keep their eyes on the present. It was a tough road to the title last winter and the path does not look any easier this time around.
“We do not talk very much about the fact we did well,” said the coach, who is 347-252 in his career at Gettysburg. “We talk about what we need to do to get to that level of play and maintain it. We are constantly reiterating hard work and working together.”
Working together led the Bullets to one of the best defensive seasons in school history. Gettysburg finished as the national leader in field-goal percentage defense, holding opponents to just 28.6 percent shooting from the floor. Opponents only scored an average of 48.7 points per game against the Bullets, a mark that led the conference and stood 16th in the nation.
The team is led by six experienced seniors. Leading that group are all-conference performers Caroline Murphy and Alyssa Isler. Murphy was a first-team all-league pick after leading the team in scoring (13.1 PPG), rebounding (8.3 RPG), assists (2.4 APG), and blocks (1.6 BPG) last season.
Caroline Murphy was named All-CC First Team last season. “If she has a big year,” said Kirkpatrick, “it is going to help us tremendously. It always helps to have a post player that can do multiple things.”
Isler grabbed second-team honors as the squad’s third-leading scorer (9.6 PPG) and the top three-point threat with 30 makes from beyond the arc.
The rest of the senior class mans the backcourt. Rianna Doane appeared in all 28 contests a year ago and led the team in steals for the second time in three seasons with a career-high 60 swipes. After starting the majority of games during her sophomore season, Katie Earley provided a spark off the bench last season and should be one of the team’s top outside threats. Cori Younghans also came off the bench most of last year and finished with 5.1 points and 2.2 assists per game. Finally, Cari McMaster should provide the Bullets with a consistent presence on both sides of the ball.
The only underclassman in the backcourt is sophomore Kim Ryan. Ryan is a long-range threat for the Bullets and will look for more time on the court in her second campaign.
“Our guard play should be better than last year,” Kirkpatrick noted. “They seem a little more consistent this year and shooting a little bit better. I am excited to see them play.”
Murphy will draw a lot of attention under the hoop, but she has some talented teammates in the frontcourt to help her out. Sophomore Jessica Porter burst onto the scene last year and was named the CC Rookie of the Year and all-conference second team. She averaged 12.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Porter capped the year with 22 points and 11 rebounds in the first round of NCAAs.
Sophomore Emily Duggan produced a solid debut season, averaging 3.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, and should be in contention for a starting job. Juniors Samantha Pagel and Danielle Bernini should see plenty of time on the court as well. Pagel started the first two games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. She adds a strong, physical presence under the hoop. Bernini appeared in 18 contests a year ago and can give the Bullets solid defense and consistent shooting when called upon.
Sophomore Abby Dugan and freshmen Samie Abernethy, Sara Graham, and Olivia Braswell will all try to push the returning veterans for playing time.
Despite a strong run to the conference title last year, Kirkpatrick knows it will take every ounce of skill – and maybe a little luck – for his team to repeat. Including playoffs, 11 of the team’s 22 league tilts were decided by 10 points or less in 2012-13.
“I think our conference is going to be really, really tough,” said Kirkpatrick. “It gets tiring beating on each other every game. Once in a while you will have someone really break away, but most of those games are just a grind. You just hope to be close at the end and see what happens.”
Gettysburg opens the year at the Frostburg State University Tournament on Nov. 15-16. The Bullets receive a rematch against William Paterson on the opening day at 8 p.m.
