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By Henry Gargiulo, Yale University
Yale begins a new women’s basketball era begins with the 2005-06 season, as Chris Gobrecht takes over as the new Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 head coach. Gobrecht, a 25-year Division I coaching veteran, was named head coach this past April. She has a history of turning around programs and intends to do the same with the Bulldogs.
“I believe the excellence of our women’s basketball program should match the excellence of our university as a whole,” said Gobrecht. “Coach Backus and her staff left the program in a very solid state. We’re fortunate to take over from here and continue to work toward the growth of women’s basketball at Yale.”
Without a senior on the team, the Bulldogs have a young, talented squad that flashed glimpses of what it is capable of last season, such as its thrilling overtime win over Penn at the historic Palestra and its dominant performance at Cornell on the season’s final weekend.
“We anticipate improvement from last year because the young players are a little older and the previous coaching staff addressed the needs of the team by bringing in guards who are capable of contributing right away.”
Yale returns a deep talent pool that is rich at the post positions, boasting four players 6-foot-3 or taller and two that measure 6-1. Leading the way are captain Chinenye Okafor and two-time All-Ivy center Erica Davis. The duo finished last season in first and second respectively in points and rebounds with Davis edging Okafor in both categories. Okafor was a force on the wing as a sophomore, especially late in the season when she averaged 14.8 points over the final four contests including a 19-point effort in a victory over Cornell. Okafor also ranked among the league leaders in offensive rebounds all year, was second on the team in overall rebounding and made the Christmas City Classic All-Tournament Team.
Davis, who led the Elis in scoring and rebounding, holds the school season and career records for blocked shots. Fellow junior Julie Mantilla is also a shot-blocking force. Davis and Mantilla have each twice matched the Yale record of five blocks in a game, and Davis holds the school record with 36 points in a game.
Sara McCollum and Sarah Zoubek joined the roster last season, giving the Bulldogs two more weapons in the paint. McCollum had a solid season, starting 10 games and making the Ivy League All-Rookie Team. Zoubek came on strong late, going 10-for-17 from the field in the last five games of the season, including a big nine-point, eight-rebound performance in just 14 minutes of action in the win at Penn.
Alexandra Chen looks to make more of an impact down low this season after being slowed by an injury as a freshman.
“I think our greatest strength is on the front line with the depth and quality of our players,” said Gobrecht. “They’re all strong players who are going to give us good minutes.”
Yale lost a pair of guards to graduation, but point guard Stephanie Marciano finished the season well, and the Bulldogs add a host of freshman guards to the mix. Marciano was named Ivy League Rookie of the Week for the season’s final weekend, when she racked up 14 points, five assists and four steals against Cornell and seven points, three rebounds and two steals at Columbia. Also returning to the Eli backcourt is junior Kaitlin Emmerling. Emmerling proved to be dangerous from long range last season, knocking down 16 three-pointers.
Five guards make up the Class of 2009: Jenny Burke (Scotch Plains, N.J./Scotch Plains-Fanwood), Ashley Easley (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West), Kaitlyn Lillemoe (Minnetonka, Minn./Hopkins), Emily St. Jean (Danville, Calif./Carondelet) and Jamie Van Horne (Healdsburg, Calif./Healdsburg). Of the group of newcomers, Burke has the most experience handling the ball, while the others are accomplished shooters.
“We have definitely improved our perimeter shooting, and we will defend,” said Gobrecht. “Our biggest question is depth at point guard. We will be depending on Stephanie to continue improving as a sophomore and on finding help at the point from some of the other guards.”
The Bulldogs will once again face an ambitious out of conference schedule in 2005-06. In addition to the 14-game Ivy slate, Yale travels to tournaments in Saint Louis and Virginia and has road trips planned for Providence, George Washington, Sacred Heart, Quinnipiac and Delaware State. The Elis also play host to New Hampshire, Lehigh, Fordham and Fairfield in non-league action.
“I think it’s an aggressive schedule that will do a good job of getting us ready for the Ivy League,” Gobrecht said.
With a young nucleus in place and Gobrecht at the helm, the 2005-06 season is set to be a classic one.
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