Three Returning Players Welcome Seven Freshmen

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.”