Three Returning Players Welcome Seven Freshmen
Gophers Launch 2008-09 Season Saturday Against Trinity
November 12, 2008
TOWSON, Md. – Lindsay Ippel from Millikin. Pamela Robinson
from Old Westbury. Emilee Ackerman from Westminster (Pa.). And
that’s it.
Those are the only three Division III women’s basketball
players to average more points per game in 2007-08 than
Goucher’s Shadae Swan.
Swan, the leading scorer in the Landmark Conference last season at
22.4 points per contest, has at least one more thing in common with
Ippel and Ackerman – she’s used up her collegiate
eligibility.
“Shadae was indeed a special player for our program, yet our
players are hungry to collectively fill the void” commented
head coach Didi Cotton as she prepared her players for the upcoming
2008-09 campaign. “They understand that to be successful each
of them must commit to their respective roles and it must be a team
effort.”
The three players who return from last season’s squad
– juniors Amber Smith (Baltimore, Md./Institute of
Notre Dame) and Candra Scott (Bowie, Md./Eleanor
Roosevelt) and sophomore Leia Roberts-Brown
(Capitol Heights, Md./Archbishop Carroll) – are all
capable, in Cotton’s opinion, of assuming an even larger role
on the team with Swan gone.
“Playing with Shadae helped make each of them a better
player, but at the same time, they were in her shadow,”
Cotton said. “Each of them is ready to emerge as a leader and
is a well-rounded player capable of helping us in all facets of the
game. They exude the toughness exemplary of our program.”
In Smith, the Gophers have a two-year starting forward who
averaged 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game in 2007-08; in
Scott, they have a player with the potential to average 12-15
points and still get her teammates involved offensively and
defensively.
With a solid year under her belt, Roberts-Brown appears ready to
take her game to the next level. As a freshman, she started all 24
games and finished with 159 points (6.6 per game) and 44
assists.
Freshmen – a total of seven of them – complete
Goucher’s 2008-09 roster.
“The group of first-year players has really been fun to work
with,” according to Cotton. “They are eager to learn,
very competitive and are willing to do what is necessary to take
our program to the next level.
“Ideally you’d like to bring your freshmen along
slowly, but we aren’t in a position to do that. I believe
each of them is capable of stepping in right away and being counted
on to deliver.”
Cotton’s Gophers launch their 2008-09 season Saturday
against Trinity (D.C.) in the nation’s capital. The first
game in the Sports & Recreation Center is November 25 against
York and the first Landmark Conference game is at home on December
6 against Catholic.
“The Landmark Conference was everything we thought it would
be,” Cotton said of the conference that is in its second year
of existence. “Nothing will come easy and every game is a
challenge. I’m excited when I think how good we could be by
the time our Landmark schedule rolls around.”