2008 Woodie Awards
Women's hoops season can't meet expectations
The Acorn Drew U.
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The women�s basketball team finished the 2005-2006 season with a convincing home victory over Wilkes University on Senior Day. Junior Courtney Cunningham led the charge for the Rangers pouring in 31 points. Senior captain K.K. Foster, playing in the final game of her career, scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. The 80-62 victory by the green and blue avenged an 87-82 loss to the Lady Colonels earlier this season in Wilkes-Barre, a loss that Coach Dana Tamuccio dubbed �the low point of the season.�
The Rangers went on to lose their next three games after that loss. They had won four straight going into the Wilkes game.
The Rangers proved who the superior team was last Saturday, as the Rangers played with a lot of emotion in the last game for their three seniors. Foster has been part of the women�s program since her freshman year.
She was a member of the 2003-2004 Eastern College Athletic Conference championship team. Although she never filled up the stat sheet, due to injury, she was a great teammate and leader.
Laura Moss and Rachel Moss were the other two seniors who were honored last Saturday before the start of the game. Both were standout players of the women�s soccer team. The last time they had played roundball was in their junior years of high school. Laura Moss explained, �I missed playing basketball and I was already friends with some of the girls on the team, so I didn�t want their season to be ruined if I could do something to help.�
The depth that the Moss sisters added to the team allowed the Rangers to be able to scrimmage in practice. Both sisters knew their playing time in games would be limited. They simply wanted to be a part of a team, at least once more before they graduated. �It was kind of a no-pressure situation too, so it wasn�t a very hard decision ... I just thought I�d go out and have a good time with it,� Moss added.
The 2005-2006 women�s basketball campaign turned out to fall short of the team�s expectations. The women�s team failed to reach the conference playoffs, and with a sub .500 record did not qualify for the E.C.A.C. tournament. However, the 12-13 record posted by the Rangers failed to reflect all that they had to overcome this season.
Tamuccio stressed that while she is disappointed with the results of the season, she is happy with her team. �We simply ran out of gas at the end of the year,� she explains. The fact that the Rangers faltered down the stretch run of the season is no surprise considering the team�s lack of depth. The Rangers had only five returning players going into the season. First year�s Kaitlyn Campi and Laura Methvin were two recruited players who brought the roster up to seven. The team simply could not compete for the entire year with seven players so they recruited women�s soccer players to join the team. Freshman Ann Mularz, Junior Genie Valantassis, and the Moss sisters rounded out the roster at eleven.
Although the Rangers had the numbers to be able to practice and compete in the Freedom Conference, their bench lacked experienced college basketball players. Several players did step up big though for the Rangers, including Valantassis, the goalie on the soccer team, who ended up starting all 25 games for the Rangers averaging 5.2 rebounds per contest. Ann Mularz, also a goalie with the soccer team, was the team�s most improved player recording some big scoring nights toward the end of the season, like the 17 she poured in against Delaware Valley. Both these soccer players will continue to play basketball for the remainder of their collegiate careers.
The Rangers started out the year strong, winning their first 4 games including the Rose City Classic. Going into the Jan. 6 match-up with Delaware Valley the Rangers were 6-6 overall after winning their last game against Lehman College. The Rangers won on the road against a strong Aggies team, and then beat Lycoming College and Farleigh Dickinson University-Florham to bring their record to 9-6, 4-1 in the conference. The four game winning streak was what Tamuccio calls the �high point of the season.� In the FDU game Melissa Kraft reached the 1,000 point plateau in front of her home crowd.
It was then the Rangers traveled to Wilkes playing their first game all season without starting center Pam Kakalec. In a game Tamuccio calls the �low point of the season� the Rangers fell to an inferior Wilkes squad 87-82, surrendering 56 second half points. The Rangers would go on to lose six of their last nine games, making their record 3-7 without Kakelec. In the absence of Kakalec, Methvin was inserted into the starting lineup. She played admirably for a freshman averaging 5.5 points and 5 rebounds for the year. However, the Rangers simply missed Kakalec�s court presence and size underneath. With Methvin then having to start, the Rangers also sacrificed the strength of their bench on a team that lacked depth, even with Kakalec.
All things considered, the Rangers battled through adversity and performed commendably throughout the season. �We competed every time out,� Tamuccio said. Returning all of their key players next year, including the best backcourt in the conference with Kraft, Cunningham, Marquis, and Campi, the Rangers have a lot to look forward to. �If we miss the playoffs next year,� Tamuccio said, �then I will be very disappointed.� This summer the local women�s players including, the incoming freshman, will be competing in a summer league in New York City. Tamuccio hopes to bring in 10 players next year to add depth to the program. The coach explains that two impact freshman next year will ensure a playoff berth. With the outstanding tandem of Kraft and Cunningham set to graduate after next season, the women better take care of business next year. That business is simply the following: make the conference playoffs for the first time in Drew women�s basketball history.