The 1999-2000 edition of the Mary Washington College women's basketball team will look to bounce back from a tough 1998-99 season and regain the magic that propelled the 1997-98 team to the second round of the NCAA Division III Tournament. A year ago, the Eagles were plagued by injuries to key players, which resulted in a 10-14 season for Connie Gallahan's squad.
Despite the sub-par record, the Eagles experienced many firsts in 1998-99, including receiving their first-ever in-season national ranking by Columbus Multimedia (climbing as high as seventh in the nation in December). The Eagles' hot start was also evidenced by a tournament championship in the prestigious Rowan University Tipoff Tournament, which featured three NCAA Division III tournament teams from 97-98, as well as one of the top NAIA schools in the nation.
After rolling to wins over Gwynedd-Mercy College and Westfield State College at Rowan, the Eagles reeled off five more consecutive wins, including a win over nationally-ranked Western Maryland College and CAC foe Catholic University. As the Eagles entered Capital Athletic Conference play in January, several key personnel losses mounted; and caused MWC to fall in the conference standings. After winter break, the Eagles lost senior center Marcy Michaels, who chose to leave the team for academic reasons, and several games later, lost All-America candidate Erin Caulfield for the season due to an ACL injury.
Despite playing in only four full CAC games (and 13 overall), Caulfield was named second team All-CAC after averaging 21.2 points and 6.3 rebounds in her abbreviated campaign. Caulfield's return for 1999~2000 should mark the return to prominence for the Eagles, who compete in perhaps the best Division III women's basketball conference in the nation, the Capital Athletic Conference.
That return to the top will have to be without one of the top scorers in school history, guard Andrea Sellers, who graduated in May with 1388 points, the second-highest point total ever at the school. Also gone are supporting players Erica Salmin and Summer Speidell, who both played substantial minutes at the end of 98-99.
Those that will return to the fold for October practice include rising junior guard Bernice Kenney, a West Springfield High School teammate of Caulfield who netted eight points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 2.8 steals per contest a year ago. Also back is junior forward Helen Huley, who finished third in the CAC in field goal percentage (53.7%), averaged ten points per game, and assumed a large scoring role in Caulfield's absence at the end of the year. Junior Sarah Seale (who also missed five games due to a foot injury) also looks to continue her emergence as a top player; both offensively and defensively.
The Eagles' improving inside game will see the return of junior Jill Hollenbeck and senior Jessica Sullins, who combined for over five points, five rebounds, and a blocked shot per game last winter. Hollenbeck was impressive as the season came to a close, averaging nearly ten points per contest in the final five games of
the year.
Other returnees include'spot-starting junior Denise Harrington (3.8 PPG, 20 steals in 98-99), and sophomores Erin Printy and Anne Bryce.