“Always excited. Love to compete,” said Anne Donovan, head women’s basketball coach at Seton Hall, which was picked to finish last by the Big East preseason coaches’ poll. “When you’re at the bottom of a very strong league, you’re looking up at the other teams and looking to tackle each one…We’re working really hard to be better, improve and take people by surprise.”
Senior center Tajay Ashmeade, a graduate of the Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem, spent part of her summer training and playing with the Jamaican national team. “Playing with girls who are older and who have been in the game longer, I picked up a lot of knowledge that I can bring from that team to my Seton Hall team,” she said.
Basketball season has just begun, but Rutgers has already lost a key player. Senior Chelsey Lee will miss the entire season with a shoulder injury. Coach C. Vivian Stringer remains optimistic that the blend of seniors Khadijah Rushdan and April Sykes and five freshmen will bring results.
“I absolutely love the spirit, attitude and hard work of the freshmen,” said Stringer at Big East media day. “Normally, we talk about growing pains because they’re freshmen, but what I like is, one, they stick together; two, they’re not thin-skinned; three, they came to contribute; and four, we’re changing our system so that we can allow the freshmen to get on the floor quicker. Right now, everybody is able to play. We’re going to be a pretty exciting team.”
In a rare scenario, Connecticut placed second in the preseason poll (Notre Dame is first). Despite that, the Huskies are still the team to beat. “At UConn you know you’re always going to have a target on your back, which, in my opinion, makes it more fun,” said junior guard Kelly Faris.
St. John’s has set the goal of reaching the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, which would make it a truly memorable senior year for forward Da’Shena Stevens. “I want to finish up strong,” Stevens said. “I believe the team is the best we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Junior guard Shenneika Smith, the team’s top scorer last season, said expectations rise each year. She promises to contribute any way she can-taking a charge, defending and scoring, “do a little bit of everything,” she said.