Felician Athletics - 10/30/06 - Women's Basketball Looks To Capitalize On Versatility

It will be difficult to typecast the 2006-07 Felician College women’s basketball team in terms of the traditional five positions. And that seems to be just the way second-year head coach Jay Latko likes it.

“We are going to be able to put five players on the floor at any given time that are multi-faceted,” Latko said. “Everyone will have the ability to shoot, defend, create their own shot, or dribble, and that will be our biggest strength.”

It is that versatility that Latko feels will enable the Golden Falcons to improve upon their 8-20 overall won-lost record from 2005-06, in which seven games were lost by seven points or fewer.

“We’re a much deeper team from top to bottom than last year,” Latko said. “We can do more things on defense, and we’re deeper at the offensive skill positions, which makes it easier to run things.”

Felician begins the season earlier than usual with an exempted three-game trip to the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., on November 3-5. The tournament will be a stiff test against nationally-regarded opponents whose combined 2005-06 records were 73-21. The Golden Falcons’ other four non-league contests are against Northeast Regional opponents, interspersed within the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference slate.

Latko refuses to let his excitement about the season translate into heavy expectations on his players.

“I don’t believe in measuring success solely by wins and losses,” he said. “Our players have to be able to tell us they gave us their best effort. If they can say that, we’ll probably win more than we lose.”

GUARDS: Seniors Suzanne Albert (28 GP, 6.4 ppg, 2.8 apg in 2005-06) and co-captain Diane Burns (28 6.9 ppg, 3.2 apg) are the incumbent starters. Sophomore Krystal Dixon (26 GP, 1.6 ppg, 1.2 rpg in 9.7 min) will push for an increased role, and junior college transfer Carisma Richmond should see immediate time. Senior Terry Sues (12 GP, 0.2 rpg) provides depth.

WINGS: Preseason competition is fierce for playing time at the wing among transfers Erica Brown and Jo Milling and junior Laurin Brown (27 GP, 4.4 ppg, 34 3FG).

“All three of those kids can really shoot,” Latko said. “The starting position is still wide open. We also have a really heady player in senior Gloria Pinck (13 GP, 1.3 ppg, 0.5 rpg) who is recovering from injury.”

POSTS: Co-captain Rochelle Forbes (8.8 ppg, 7.1 rpg), a three-year starter, and two-time honorable-mention junior-college All-American Dee Dee Smith are the leading candidates at center and power forward. Sophomore Kimberly Dunay (25 GP, 1.7 ppg, 2.9 rpg), the team’s biggest player at 6-foot-2, has impressed the coaching staff with her improvement over the summer. Also fighting for a spot in the rotation are sophomore Amanda Bartee (10 GP, 0.7 ppg, 1.4 rpg), transfer Crystal Ferrer and senior Katelyn Gardepe (7 GP, 1.0 ppg).