Author: Colin Moyer
As a new season begins for the women’s basketball team at Oxy, hopes are high after the program made its first playoff appearance in school history. With coach Heidi VanDerveer at the helm for her second year, the Tigers are looking to top the SCIAC again for the third year in a row and earn a second trip to the NCAA Playoffs.
In order to prepare for this post-season event, the Tigers will play a very competitive 25-game schedule that will include two tournaments and a total of ten non-conference games against some tough opponents. “We play a very challenging non-conference schedule that will hopefully prepare us for nightly battles that we will face in the SCIAC,” said VanDerveer.
One of these tournaments will be the Tiger-Panther Classic on December 30-31, which Oxy co-hosts with Chapman. Unfortunately, the Tigers will be unable to play against Chapman-who beat them 70-65 last year and knocked them out of the playoffs in the first round-during the tournament, as the Tigers will be competing against Chapman earlier in the season.
The Tigers return two All-SCIAC players in guards Dior Williams (junior) and Stephanie Babij (junior), who look to bring experience and leadership to the team along with other senior starters. Five new players will also help add energy, depth and diversity to the squad. Coach VanDerveer said that the mix of upperclassmen leadership and newcomer energy could be a winning formula.
Unfortunately, the lady Tigers will be without Third-Team All-American Brianne Brown ’09 this year. But hopefully with the help of Williams and Babij, as well as the new talent VanDerveer has brought in, this season will be just as successful as last year.
Williams, however, doesn’t feel that the loss of Brown will be much of a factor, and is ecstatic to have formerly injured player Sam Rossi (senior) back in the game. “We still have the same core players we had last year, and with Sam Rossi healthy again, we didn’t necessarily ‘lose’ or ‘gain’ talent per se, but rather just tweaked it,” she said.
VanDerveer is eager for the season to begin and believes it’s going to be a good one. “We have a very competitive league, but we are up for challenge and are hoping to win the SCIAC again and earn ourselves another trip to the playoffs,” she said.
The Tigers held their first practice on Thursday, Oct. 15 and will be going through numerous twice-a-day practices as well as single practices to get ready for their first home game against La Sierra University on Nov. 15. Their first SCIAC matchup will have the Tigers up against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens on Jan. 7 at the Sagehens’ home gym.
According to Williams, the team’s first practice went well. VanDerveer also thought the team showed great energy, which in her opinion, is the antecedent of a great season.VanDerveer has set a list of goals that she feels are well within reach if the team can come together and play as a unit. “Our team’s goals for the year are to establish an identity as competitive, hard working, unselfish, and always seeking improvement,” she said.
With a solid returning team as well as a new group of young talent, the lady Tigers will be well on their way to bringing home another SCIAC championship, as well as making it to the NCAA Playoffs again.
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