Photo courtesy of Ramapo Athletics
The Ramapo College women’s basketball team will look to rebound off of the 2014-2015 campaign in which they went 4-21 and 0-18 in conference play.
“It was a rough year last year as it was very much of a rebuilding situation. I think the thing that I am most excited about for this team is that the attitude, energy and work ethic is much better. That’s a result of the kids we have on the team. Going through the challenge of last year, the returners know they have to apply themselves to compete each day in practice,” said Mike Eineker, who is entering his seventh year as the head coach of the team.
Last season, the lady Roadrunners started the season 3-0, but fell in 21 out of the last 22 games. This year they will look to start off strong again, but want to continue that success throughout the season.
The team only lost three seniors from last year’s team, but that includes Kerrie Kosakowski, who led the team in minutes. They will look for some of the newcomers to step into those shoes and help fill those voids.
“We have 13 players and I don’t think there’s a huge difference between all 13 talent-wise. We are well-balanced, which will make us deeper. I think we have a couple newcomers who can help right away. Those newcomers being freshman Alex Seedes, Tia Solomon and Jenna McDonnell, and junior transfer Shelby Ringer,” explained Eineker.
Although no captains have been named yet, the squad does return some good leadership in seniors Grace Elliot and Alyson Oostdyk, and junior Kellie Lane, who led the team in points per game last season.
Elliot averaged 7.4 points per game while putting up 5.3 rebounds a game. The center also posted 1.6 blocks per game.
Lane averaged a team-high 8.3 points per game and shot 41 percent from the field. She also averaged just under a steal per game (0.9).
The team opens up their season on Friday when they travel to Hackettstown, New Jersey to play against Centenary College. The home opener will be two days later when they host King’s College, and the conference opener will be on Nov. 24, when they take on William Paterson University on the road.
rrinsky@ramapo.edu
