When she was asked about her outlook on the season last year, then-junior guard Erica Carter expressed uncertainty due to an overhauled roster and a new head coach in Nicole Scholl.
“It’s a whole new team,” Carter said.
Now in 2009, the roster features just two freshmen. Most of the team has at least a year of experience, including the coach.
Scholl now enters her second season as coach of the Bearcats. Binghamton went 8-8 in conference play last season and reached the semifinals of the America East Conference tournament. In their last game, the Bearcats were up 47-46 with 3:15 left in the game against Boston University, before falling 57-53. Despite a strong season, Scholl has made one thing clear: She is not complacent and expects more.
“We’ve been in that four-fifths game for a while and I think it is time for a change,” Scholl said.
Intent on improving the Bearcats’ transition game and reinventing Binghamton into a running team, Scholl has stressed making better an offense that was ranked fifth in the America East last season at 38.8 percent shooting from the field. She expressed hope that with a more established roster as compared to last season, players will understand where they fit into the team better than they did a year ago.
“In practice we have made more of an emphasis on what is a good shot and what is a bad shot and getting the players to understand their roles on the floor,” she said.
In looking to push the pace, Scholl has recruited Andrea Holmes, Orla O’Reilly and Kara Elofson over the past two seasons to bolster Binghamton’s guard depth. Holmes, in particular, has provided her with the floor leader she craves. Holmes is a do-it-all point guard who posted strong all-around numbers last season with 10 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game. However, she scored just three points total in the first two games of 2008-09. Scholl believes Holmes will be ready to lead Binghamton’s offense in the coming season, from the first game.
“Andrea has come in very confident and relaxed this year,” she said. “Any pressure that she might feel she puts on herself. She has a much better understanding of what is expected of her as our point guard.”
Scholl sees sustaining runs and intensity for 40 minutes as critical to the development of her Bearcats squad. Running a successful transition offense is tough because the quick pace of play can lead to players getting tired legs. Scholl, as a result, will be demanding that her players do not allow their level of play to experience severe troughs over the course of games.
“A big step for us this year is being able to play at our level and intensity for the whole game,” Scholl said. “There were times last year where I thought we lost intensity too easily when we were down or we weren’t able to put a team away once we had a lead.”
Scholl plans to make some lineup changes in the 2009-10 season with the goal of improving her team’s transition success and envisions her team making significant strides in the running game.
“I think our transition game will be even better this year,” she said. “We have made a couple of changes moving Darryll Peterson to the forward position, and Viive Rebane will see time at both the guard and forward spots. Jackie Ward will also see plenty of minutes at the wing and backup point guard position.”
Scholl begins her second season as Binghamton women’s basketball head coach Friday at 7 p.m. at the Events Center against St. Bonaventure University. Despite being picked to finish third in the America East preseason poll, Scholl wants to make sure her team does not pay any mind to the hype it is receiving.
“Getting a third-place ranking is great recognition for our players and this program, but everyone knows it’s where you finish at the end that matters the most.”