Cards Excited To Run

By Anthony Fontana

With a new coaching staff in place and only two seniors on the team to go along with a handful of underclassmen, some might consider this a rebuilding year for the women’s Cardinal basketball team. Sophomore forward Brittany Burkhardt doesn’t buy into that theory. 

“Our expectations are definitely going to be set high as a team considering the experience and background of the coaching staff coming in,” Burkhardt said. “The goal for everyone in the conference is to finish in first and ours is no different.” 

First year head coach Shannon Baugh takes over the head coaching position that was opened when Vonnie Kilmer resigned after last season. Also joining her on the coaching staff is new assistant coach Joe Zinni. The two coaches bring with them the desire to play an up-tempo game that will be exciting to watch. 

Senior guard Tricia Everett is excited about the brand of basketball that the Cards will display.

“We are definitely a run and gun type of team,” she said. “We are looking to push the ball up the court every possession. We need to make sure that we are all on the same page and are taking care of all the little things like rebounding, boxing out, and taking care of the ball. All the little things add up.” 

In the preseason polls, the Cardinals were picked to finish fifth in the GLIAC. With the new coaching staff in place and the loss of some key players from last season, Zinni didn’t expect anything else. 

“No one knows Shannon’s coaching tendencies and we only have two returning players that played significant minutes last season. Nobody knows anything about our team so with that prediction, hopefully we can go out and surprise a few people when it’s all said and done.” Zinni said. 

Burkhardt is quick to point out that the success of the team is all that matters in the end although she is setting the bar high for her individual performance, which in turn will help the team’s success. 

“This year my plans are to try and help the team in all aspects to the best of my ability,” Burkhardt said. “I have to exert myself offensively and defensively and get a lot of rebounds. I think of myself as a very aggressive and passionate player. I was tied for rebounding last year in the league so one of my goals is to be first in the league in rebounds.”

Everett’s goals for the season are broader than Burkhardt’s, though in the end they both just want team success.

“Personally I want to make every person on my team a better ball player. I want to push them to get better every day.” Everett said.

The Cards are also expecting big things from junior forwards Kelsey Mausolf and Jenna Saarela, both of whom will receive more playing time than they did last season.

“Jenna and Kelsey have provided a lot of leadership both on and off the court,” Zinni said. “Kelsey should give us a nice inside threat with the ability to shoot the mid-range jumper. Jenna is very versatile and can play inside or out and has the range that extends to the three-point line. Jenna was also selected as one of our team captains.”

Though the team was picked to finish in the middle of the pack in the GLIAC, Zinni wants to throw away preseason predictions and focus on what his team can control.

“It doesn’t matter where we anticipate our team finishing, we just need to be in the top eight at the end of the season to make it to the GLIAC tournament and give us a chance to compete for the automatic bid.”