2015-16 Season Outlook: Wooster Eyes Rapid Improvement, as It Enters a New Era
Wooster plays its first four contests at home.
The College of Wooster women's basketball team, with 10 returning letterwinners and six newcomers, will have its sights set on rapid improvement by displaying a hard work ethic and a great attitude on the court, two of interim head coach Lisa Panepento's three keys displayed on the team bulletin board.
"We need (our players) to desire to be difference makers," said Panepento, a Wooster alumna and former head coach of Kalamazoo College. "It's easy to come to a program that's not been successful and carry that on. It takes somebody special to really want to do what's required to change that, and be the pioneer."
The Fighting Scots will again turn to dual-sport senior standout Lauren Hancher to lead the way. Hancher, an all-North Coast Athletic Conference regular on the hardwood and soccer field, averaged 17.7 points a year ago, good for second in the conference. The forward enters her senior year eighth in career scoring with 983 points.
"Lauren's not a selfish player," commented Panepento on one of her four captains. "She's probably the most hungry to get some wins here as a senior, and will do everything she can to help us in that regard."
Joining Hancher in the senior class is local product Sydney Grier, one of the top 3-point shooters in program history. Grier ranks sixth in school history with 110 made trifectas for her career, and could challenge for the record by year's end.
"Sydney is not someone who's ever going to wow you as a flashy player," said Panepento, when highlighting her senior class. "She's just so solid, so fundamentally sound. She's a very quiet leader, not a loud vocal leader, but someone who's always going to be there and do the right things for the program and her teammates."
The two seniors will have a pair of experienced juniors to look to help lead the way in fellow co-captains Rachel Collins and Sydney Failing.
Collins finished second on the team in scoring at 8.8 points per game last year. Even more impressively, the 5-5 guard pulled down a team-best 4.5 rebounds per contest.
"Rachel was also elected as a captain," stated Panepento. "She started over half of the games last year, and I expect her to be in the starting lineup again. She never gets tired and never seems to run out of energy."
Failing, who has the versatility to play a variety of roles, could potentially shift the bulk of her time inside to more of a forward role. She made nine starts during the 2014-15 campaign, averaging 6.7 points.
"Sydney expressed a pretty strong desire to be a leader," added Panepento. "She's grown tremendously in the two years that she's been a part of the program. We're kind of waiting for her to have her breakout year, and hopefully this is it."
In the backcourt, Wooster also returns letterwinners Danielle Besancon, Hannah Kiser, and Aki Shurelds, all of whom saw extensive time in the rotation last year. Sophomore Erin Fulcher could also contribute after missing the entire 2014-15 season due to injury.
Down low, the Fighting Scots welcome back Natalie Coschigano, Paige Fabry, and Katie Mandych, all of whom played in at least 20 games a year ago.
Wooster's first-years are highlighted by Anna Gibbs and Christina Vukovich, who both could see significant minutes from as early as day one. Brianna Brown-Richardson, Shar Hankerson, Nellie Jones, and Alyssa Kendrick round out the newcomers.
Panepento, herself a two-time all-conference player at Wooster in the mid-1980s, will be looking to instill a great sense of pride within the culture of the program.