The No. 10 UCSD women’s basketball team, which broke school
records last year, is expecting similar results this season with a completely
different look. The Tritons made the Division II Final Four last season, but
with four of last year’s starters graduating, UCSD’s team looks a lot different
than the previous squad.
The team is without guard Leora Juster, last year’s
conference MVP and the Tritons’ leading scorer, as well as starting forward and
second-leading scorer Hillary Hansen. The Tritons also graduated last year’s
center Jillian Ricks and point guard Kacie Kostlan.
In addition to the departure of their starters, the Tritons
also lost last season’s head coach Janell Jones, who announced her resignation
from UCSD after accepting a head coaching job at Division I Mercer University
following the end of last season.
Taking Jones’ place is Charity Elliott, who spent her last
two years as head coach of the women’s basketball team at Portland State
University — a D-I program.
Replacing Jones is no easy task, considering she led the
Tritons over two seasons to a 50-10 record, including last season’s
program-best 27-5 record. However, the players have already bought into
Elliott’s system of coaching.
“I think we’ve adjusted really well to our coach this year,”
junior forward Michelle Osier said. “Our coach this year is similar to last
year’s in the sense that she expects a lot from us and we have to bring
intensity to every practice. Learning the new coach’s philosophy has not been
slow. Her philosophy really works; it’s so successful.”
A major part of UCSD’s new game plan emphasizes defense. The
Tritons, who mostly played zone defense over the last couple of seasons, have
switched to a man-to-man defense under Elliott, and are already seeing positive
results.
“This is the first year with our new coach that we’ve been
able to play man-to-man defense, and it’s become one of our strengths,” senior
forward Alexis Mezzetta said. “We’ve been getting a lot of steals, making them
turn over the ball and taking charges.”
With Osier being the only remaining starter, and the only
player who averaged more than 15 minutes per game for UCSD last season, there
are plenty of opportunities for playing time. The Tritons seem ready to prove
themselves under their new coach.
The Tritons won all three of their games in the Disney West Coast Tip-Off Classic by 10 points or more. (Sanh Luong/Guardian)
“Those players realize that there’s a better chance this
year to get time in games,” Osier said. “With a new coach, it’s like a new
beginning … I think last year, a lot of those players were frustrated and
started to lose their love for the game. Now, everyone’s refreshed and their
spirit and love for the game is renewed.”
Even though they are only three games into the season, the
Tritons look to be on the same track that they were on during last year’s
successful season. After a 60-54 exhibition win at Biola University on Oct. 27,
UCSD traveled to Anaheim for Disney’s West Coast Tip-Off Classic from Nov. 2
through Nov. 4. The Tritons also posted wins against Colorado Christian
University, Augustana College and Western Washington University to win the
tournament.
Even though they are enjoying success similar to that of
last season, the Tritons are relying on more players for offensive production.
In the game against Western Washington University, eight
different Tritons scored for UCSD, but none of them reached double digits in
points. Last season, Juster, Hansen and Osier scored the vast majority of
UCSD’s points in almost every contest.
“It’s really been five people working together instead of
just one or two,” Mezzetta said. “That’s really been one of our strengths.”
In this season’s three regular season games, Elliott has
maintained the same starting lineup: senior point guard Marla Mason, sophomore
forward Erin Noonan, senior forward Meaghan Noud, senior center Alexis Gaskin
and Osier.
The Tritons have a break from games for a couple of weeks
before they head to Phoenix for the Grand Canyon Classic, where they will play
Western New Mexico University on Nov. 23 and Fort Lewis College on Nov. 24.
After that, the Tritons will start their schedule of conference games in the
hopes of winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association championships
for the second straight year and return to the NCAA D-II National Tournament.
Even though the team is basically starting from scratch this
year, Osier is confident that the Tritons will excel this season.
“In the beginning, fans and other people not affiliated with
the team had doubts since we lost four starters and our coach,” she said. “They
assumed we wouldn’t be as good as last year. But our new coach has a totally
different philosophy than our old coach and I think we’re going to be really
successful this year following that philosophy.”
