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Printer-Friendly ModeNew season brings new hope
November 2, 2009 —
Heading into her second season as head coach, Shannon Baugh knows the Cardinals must get better if they hope to improve on last season’s 3-24 record.
With the work ethic the team displays, she believes the team is doing just that.
“There isn’t a whole lot I have to say to the girls,” Baugh said. “They don’t want to go through another season like we had last year, as far as wins and losses go. They are all motivated to go out and work hard in practice every day.”
While Baugh expects the team to perform better, she realizes it is going to be difficult filling the shoes of last seasons leading scorer, Tricia Everett.
“Not only was Tricia a great player, she was our leader,” Baugh said.
“I can’t say that I expect one player to try and replace her. It is going to have to be a team effort to fill the little shoes of a player like Tricia,” Baugh said, jokingly referring to Everett, who Baugh said was “short in size, but big in heart.”
One of the players who Baugh has high expectations for is sophomore guard Marah Kyle, who started in 22 of 27 games as a freshman.
“Marah had a tremendous year as a freshman,” Baugh said. “She came in and played a lot of minutes and contributed a great amount. She is going to be one of the players that has to step up with the loss of Tricia.”
Like the rest of the team, Kyle also has parts of her game that can be improved. She shot 54 percent from the free-throw line, a number that Baugh is hoping will increase significantly.
“As a guard, it is crucial that you have a high free-throw percentage,” Baugh said. “She is a player that likes to take the ball through the lane, so she’s going to get fouled. Last season, she had the most attempts on the team. It will be important that she converts on those more often this season.”
Not only is SVSU facing an uphill battle after losing its leading scorer, the team also happen to play in the GLIAC, a conference that Baugh calls “one of the best Division II conferences in the nation.”
“When you look at the schedule, we play some tremendous teams,” Baugh said. “Teams like Michigan Tech and Grand Valley are some of the top teams in the country. We have to come out every single game ready to play because we know our competition will be ready to go.”
In the Division II Bulletin preseason poll, Michigan Tech was ranked first, while Grand Valley was ranked 13th, showing the depth of the GLIAC that Baugh was referring to.
Last season, the Cards’ offense averaged only 55 points per game, last in the GLIAC. Baugh knows the Cardinals must put up better offensive numbers if they hope to achieve success.
“Offensively, I would like to be able to push the ball up the court and score points in a hurry,” Baugh said. “Sometimes we will be able to do that, but it all depends on the personnel that we have in the game.”
In order to score more points, Baugh is also stressing to the team how important it is for them to rebound the ball, something players struggled with mightily last season.
“In order to be a good rebounding team, you have to want it,” Baugh said. “You have to have a will to go up in traffic and come down with the basketball. Hopefully, we do a better job of doing that this season.”
With a year under her belt, Baugh hopes the team can put last season behind it and come out better prepared to handle the difficulties of everyday life in the GLIAC.
“When it’s all said and done, I would like to be able to say that we came out everyday and competed,” Baugh said. “Whether that shows in terms of wins and losses, that will be determined later. If we can give ourselves a chance at the end of the game, we’ll be able to come out on top more often.”