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Sage women picked 6th in race for Skyline Conference Championship
Clifton Park, NY---- The Sage Colleges women's basketball team was picked to finish in sixth place in the race for the 2010-2011 Skyline Conference Championship by the league's coaches in a pre-season poll.
A year ago, the Gators finished with a 9-15 record and just missed a spot in the 2009-2010 Skyline Conference Tournament after going 7-11 in conference action. Now in her sixth season, Head Coach Jackie Luszczek will lead the Gators in their season-opener on November 15 when they host Skidmore College at 6 p.m. in the Kahl Campus Center.
2010-2011 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll
(First-place votes in parentheses)
1. Mount Saint Mary (8) 80
2. Farmingdale State (2) 73
3. NYU-Poly 58
4. Old Westbury 54
5. Mount Saint Vincent 49
6. Sage 39
7. Purchase 38
8. St. Joseph's-L.I. 20
9. Bard 17
10. Yeshiva 9
The 2010-2011 season marks the sixth season for Jackie Luszczek as well as her most optimistic season as her roster is filled with seven returning players, a pair of transfers and two talented newcomers. With high expectations for the squad, the Gator coaching staff is confident the team will make a run for a spot in the 2011 Skyline Conference Tournament at season's end.
The Gators just missed the Skyline Conference Tournament last season after missing the sixth spot on tiebreaker criterion. The 2007-2008 and the 2008-2009 squads also earned the Skyline Sportsmanship Award along the way. Sage will replace just two starters from the lineup last year, and Luszczek is extremely confident the returning and incoming student-athletes will give Sage the needed strength and depth to propel the program to the next level.
Among the players expected to fill those graduation losses will be senior guard Liz Donk (Phelps, NY/Midlakes), who averaged 8.1 ppg and 4.8 rpg last year and was the team's high scorer on two separate occasions, including 26 points late in the season. Donk started all 24 games last season and handed out a team-high 97 assists, good enough for a 4.04 per game average, which was fourth best in the Skyline Conference last year. She has 387 points and 206 rebounds in 46 games played during her time at Sage. She is expected to be the team's floor general this year in the point guard spot after playing an average of 30.0 minutes a game as a junior co-captain. She can create off the dribble both for herself and her teammates.
Among the key returnees for Sage this season will be senior guard-forward Jessica Byerwalters (Coeymans Hollow, NY/Ravena-Coeymans-Selkink). A transfer fromSUNY-Cobleskill last season, she announced her arrival in the Skyline Conference after starting 22 of 24 games played with an impressive 12.5 ppg and 6.4 rpg average. She finished the campaign as the tenth leading scorer in the league, while shooting an impressive 42.7% from the floor (105-246), which was seventh amongst all conference players. Four times she was named to the Skyline Conference Honor Roll, while also earning a selection as the league's Player of the Week in early November.
Byerwalters was the team's high scorer nine times last season, including a personal-best 25 points in the team's overtime win over Purchase College. She was also Sage's high rebounder four times in 2009-2010 and averaged 33.8 minutes in her first Sage campaign. Byerwalters is extremely athletic and will continue to make an impact for Sage as a team leader. Look for her to get time at the three guard position and for her to pose a match-up threat to opponents with her height.
Another of the team's returning starters is sophomore forward Kara Hackett (Peru, NY/Peru Central). She came to Sage after scoring 1,000 points in high school and stepped right into a starting role with 24 starts last season. She averaged 11.4 ppg, which was 14th in the conference and second amongst all rookies last season.
She shot a team-leading 43.2% from the floor (111-257), which was fourth best in the Skyline Conference and averaged a team-best 7.9 rebounds a contest as well. She was Sage's high rebounder 11 times last season and racked up 22 blocked shots as well. Twice she was cited as the Skyline Conference Rookie of the Week, while adding a pair of Skyline Conference Honor Roll selections and a spot on the Buffalo State All-Tournament Team to open her collegiate career. She has the ability to score with her back to the basket and gives the Gators height at five foot-eleven inches. She will once again be looked to this season for her play at the post.
Junior forward Kelsey Frament (Waterford, NY/Catholic Central) returns having averaged 6.3 ppg and 6.6 rpg in 10 starts as a sophomore. She played an average of 24.4minutes a game as a sophomore and shot nearly 70.0% from the line. Six times she led the team on the boards a year ago. Look for her to give Sage both size and experience with her abilities on both ends of the floor. She has a good shot from the floor and can most certainly help the team on the boards.
Sage returns a trio of sophomore guards that gained valuable experience and playing time last year. Ashleigh Nelson (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) played in all 24 games as a rookie, while averaging nearly 16 minutes a game. Carly Vallee (East Greenbush, NY/Catholic Central) averaged 3.6 ppg in 14 outings, while Corinne Bieskza (Whitesboro, NY/Westmoreland) saw limited time in the lineup as a rookie due to injury. With one season under their belts, look for this group to give Sage more depth and abilities off the bench this season.
Look for transfers Sarah Carciobolo (Niskayuna, NY/Colonie) and Tiffany Bezio (Whitehall, NY/Whitehall) to push for time as well. Bezio is a former team MVP at SUNY- Adirondach Community College after excelling in both basketball and softball for two seasons. Carciobolo was a 2010 pre-season NJCAA All-America Second Team pick at nearby Hudson Valley Community College and earned All-Mountain Valley Conference honors twice in her time with the Vikings. The high-scoring play-maker tallied 689 points at HVCC and gives Luszczek a high-powered offense this season.
Freshmen Chelsea Martin (Davenport, NY/Jefferson Central) and Maribeth Hunt (Wells, NY/Wells Central) arrive at Sage after impressive scholastic careers. Martin gives Sage height as the team MVP and league first-team all-star checks in at six-foot. She helped lead Jefferson Central to a sectional runner-up finish and should push for time early on in the season. Hunt will contend for time as well as women's soccer rookie defender Danielle Kitsock (Claverack, NY/Hudson), giving Sage a deep bench.
All told, the Gators need to apply pressure defensively and create opportunities this year. They will look to force turnovers and get out and run in transition. The team possesses quickness and considerable athleticism that may not only surprise some opponents, but push them as well. Sage has extensive depth and a high talent level giving the Gators a real edge over last year's squad. With just two seniors on the roster, look for this edition of Sage's women's basketball to be impressive from the start and make a strong push for the Skyline Conference tournament, a program first.
A highly competitive schedule awaits the 2010-2011 Sage women's basketball team. The team hosts Skidmore College in the season-opener on November 15, before travelling to the Buffalo State College Tip-Off Tournament on November 19-20. Sage will open action facing Grove City College, while Hilbert is also competing in the tournament.
The Gators will call two venues home this season with the addition of the Kahl Campus Center. Sage will host four games in the Neff Athletic Center in Troy, while they will take to the hardwood in the Kahl Campus Center seven times in the coming year.
Additional non-conference opponents on the schedule include Union College and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. The 2010-2011 Skyline Conference schedule has the Gators taking on 2010 NCAA tournament team, Mt. St. Mary College in early December before Skyline contests with St. Joseph's College, the College of Mt. St. Vincent, and Yeshiva wrap the first semester's schedule. The league's defending champions, Farmingdale State College will visit the Kahl Center on January 22, while additional home league contests include dates with NYU-Poly, Purchase, Yeshiva, SUNY-Old Westbury and Bard to wrap the season on February 16 for home contests. A year ago, the Skyline Conference Champion, Farmingdale and runner-up Mt. St. Mary each earned NCAA Div. 3 Tournament bids, while Mt. St. Vincent and St. Joseph's earned a spot in the 2010 ECAC Tournament.
With that type of excellence in the league, Sage will find a tough test ahead of them every time they take to the court, a challenge this team is ready to accept and meet, all with hopes of making a postseason run of their own.
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