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Women's Basketball
Current Season Preview
last updated
03/20/2009
2008-09
YOUTHFUL GOLDEN BEARS LOOK TO MAKE NOISE IN PSAC EAST
KUTZTOWN, Pa. –
A youth movement hopes to power the
Kutztown University women’s basketball back into the postseason
after a two-year hiatus.
Kutztown is projected to finish
fourth in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern
Division.
Shippensburg is picked first, followed by
Millersville and West Chester.
East Stroudsburg is slated fifth, with
Bloomsburg, Cheyney and Mansfield rounding out the poll.
 The
2008-09 Golden Bears will have their freshman sensation from a year
ago,
Melissa McQuade (so. Pittsburgh/Shaler),
who won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference East Rookie of
the Week award four times.
McQuade, who is the team’s leading
returning scorer and rebounder with 9.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per
game, is one of two sophomores on a team that features just one
senior,
Lara
Dellegrotti
(sr. Berwick/Berwick HS). Four juniors and
six freshmen make up the rest of the team.
“We’re young, but we have a solid
group of athletes,” said
Janet
Malouf,
who enters her 15th season as head coach of the Golden Bears. “The
kids we have back really care about doing well.”
Coming off their second straight
losing season with a record of 11-16 overall and 4-8 in the PSAC
East, the Golden Bears know what they have to do in order to get KU
back into the playoffs.
 “We
have to score more points and we have to shoot better,” Malouf said.
“We can’t just have one player scoring for us. If we can become a
more cohesive group, we’ll be a good team.”
All that starts with the guards in the backcourt.
Dellegrotti and sophomore
Meredith
Starr (so.
Richmond, Va./Monacan HS) will run the
offense for the Golden Bears, with juniors
Vivian
Melvin (jr.
Chichester/Chichester HS) and
Rachel
Wisemiller
(jr. Hazleton/Hazleton HS) working the
perimeter.
Vanina Bonanno (fr. Ringwood, N.J./Lakeland
Regional HS)
will add depth at the guard position.
Starr led the team in assists with 69, and
Dellegrotti and Melvin had 62. Wisemiller, who had 44 assists,
scored 6.8 points per game and became a scoring threat late in the
season last year. She averaged 10.1 points over the final eight
games, including a career-high mark of 21 against Cheyney.
Dellegrotti, Starr and Wisemiller all were threats
from beyond the arc, hitting 76 of KU’s 142 3-pointers last season.
Dellegrotti shot an impressive 40.8 percent from 3. Malouf not only
wants to see that kind of production from her lone senior, but she
hopes to see her step into a leadership role.
“Dellegrotti has been around long
enough to know she has to make her senior presence felt,” Malouf
said. “Leadership skills are crucial for our program.”
She’s also looking for her younger veterans to
take charge of the incoming freshmen.
 “Starr,
McQuade, Wisemiller; they all have to step up their game,” Malouf
said. “They can’t be passive. They must be more assertive and take
the freshmen under their wing because we’ll need all five freshmen
to do well. They have to contribute.”
Center
Hannah Mertz (fr. Hazlet, N.J./Raritan HS)
is expected to get the chance to contribute right away. With the
school’s all-time rebounder and shot blocker, Mercedes Van Wagner,
graduating last season, the Golden Bears are left with a hole in
their frontcourt.
Mertz, who at 6-foot-1 will be the
tallest woman on the basketball team, will battle with junior
Chauntelle
Schroeder
(jr. Toronto, Ont./Mother Theresa HS) and
freshman
Brittany Greaves (fr. Malvern/Great Valley HS)
for the starting center position.
McQuade and junior
Katie
Dovey (jr.
Willow Hill/Fannett-Metal HS) will play at
the forward position. Dovey played in 21 games last season,
averaging 11.1 minutes a game. Malouf expects bigger things from her
5-10 forward this season.
“We’re going to see a change in Dovey,” she said.
“She has been working hard during the offseason, showing great
improvement.”
Brittany LeVan (fr. Centre Hall/Penns Valley
HS) will also contend for playing
time at forward.
Realignment in the PSAC adds Shippensburg to the
Eastern Division.
“With teams like Shippensburg, Millersville, West
Chester and East Stroudsburg on the division schedules,” Malouf
said, “there is not really any easy team. We’re going to get tested
right away.”
The Golden Bears open the season with the annual
Golden Bears Classic on Nov. 15-16 at Keystone Hall.
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