By Louie Galdos
Elm Staff Writer
The Washington College women’s basketball program returns this season with many of the same players as last season, maintaining their starting lineup.
This means the team will have a lot of experience in games and in the Centennial Conference. The Shorewomen’s roster consists of six freshmen, one sophomore, six juniors, and three seniors.
“The goal this season is to improve our overall record and compete for a top five spot in the Centennial Conference,” Head Coach Alisha Mosley said.
Mosley sees the team in an advantageous position with the returning of their entire starting lineup.
“We are one of few teams who are returning their entire starting lineup from last season. I think this will give us confidence to build from. Our kids came back stronger, more focused, and ready to compete at a high level,” Mosley said.
Mosley recruited some players in shooting-guard positions, aiming to increase shooting percentages from the outside the paint.
“We added some depth in the guard positions to help increase our point production and three-point percentages,” she said.
The team feels they need to do the little things in order to accomplish the big goal: winning.
“As a team, we have a lot of goals and expectations for this year, [but] the big picture is that we want to be in the playoffs,” senior forward Emily Thiemann said. “We have the playing experience, we know how to play together, and we already know what the expectation is from Coach and from each other. This year we are focusing on taking what we accomplished last year, the experience we have, and just taking it a step further which will help us compete with those other teams for a topfive spot in our conference.”
According to Theimann, the Shorewomen will have to focus on “out-rebounding other teams, sharing the ball, having a lot of assists every game, and working to be the best defensive team in the conference” to clinch that desired top-five spot at the end of regular season.
Senior forward and center Kristi Kozlowski has a focus on beating teams the Shorewomen have struggled with in the past.
“I personally really want to beat Gettysburg [College] and [Johns] Hopkins [University] at least once,” Kozlowski said.
Kozlowski emphasized the perks of having a team comprised of returning players who already went through the meshing process.
“We’re looking to build off of our chemistry from last year, knowing our teammates style of play and strengths. And we’re excited about the new dynamic with our freshman and the new skills and energy they bring,” Kozlowski said.
The Shorewomen will put their returning players to the test in their exhibition game away versus Mount St. Mary’s University on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
They will play their first official game at home on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., and will begin Centennial Conference play on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m., hosting Swarthmore College.