Washington College Women’s Basketball Season Preview

CHESTERTOWN, Md. — Last season the Washington College women’s basketball team was hoping to build off of its 2016-17 campaign where they tripled its win total, but those hopes did not materialize. This season the Shorewomen look to bounce back and compete for a spot in the Centennial Conference Tournament under sixth-year head coach Alisha Mosley.

The 2018-19 edition of Shorewomen Basketball has 10 returnees from last year and six newcomers as they seek to improve on last year’s 6-19 overall record and 4-16 conference mark.

Mosley’s three seniors on her squad this season are forward/center Kristi Kozlowski(Kingsville, Md./Redeemer Classical Christian School), guard Alexis Krahling (Germantown, Md./St. John’s College H.S. [D.C.]) and forward Emily Thiemann (Wilmington, Del/Padua Academy). Thiemann averaged 5.2 points per game and 4.8 rebounds in 25 games, 20 starts, last winter as she was third on the team on the glass. Krahling, who had a squad-best 1.7-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, averaged 5.2 points per game in 24 games, 20 starts. Kozlowski led the team in blocked shots with 24 and averaged 0.84 blocks per game which was good for 10th in the conference as she played in 25 games, earning two starts.

The junior class has six returnees for the 26th edition of Shorewomen Basketball. They are guard Caitlyn Clark (Media, Pa./Notre Dame de Namur), forward Samantha Howell (Chevy Chase, Md./Bethesda-Chevy Chase), guard Rosie Martin (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo), guard Bridget McLaughlin (Newark, Del./Delaware Military Academy), forward Cassidy Quattro (Lansdale, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) and forward Taylor Samuels (Elkton, Md./Sanford School [Del.]). Clark, the team’s Most Valuable Player last season, led the team in points per game (8.2), assists per game (2.8) and steals per game (1.6) as she played in 25 games, starting 24 times. She was seventh in the conference in assists and ninth in steals. Her assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.6-to-1 was second on the team. Quattro led team in rebounding at 6.0 rebounds per game and finished second on the squad in scoring at 8.0 points per game. She was second on the team in blocks with 19 and was ninth in the Centennial in offensive rebounds with 57. McLaughlin averaged 5.1 points per game and 3.4 boards per contest as she played in 24 games, 11 starts. Martin, who started 17 times in 25 games, averaged 3.1 points per game as she was named the team’s Most Improved Player. Samuels averaged 3.2 points per game and 1.9 boards in just over 10 minutes of action per game as she played in 23 contests. Howell in nine contests had a 3.0-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

The lone sophomore on the team this year is guard Heather Rohwein (New Windsor, Md./Francis Scott Key). Rohwein played in 22 games and averaged 0.5 steals per game as a freshman.

Six freshmen grace the team this year and they are guard Jess Giblin (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), Emily Helms (Springfield, Pa./Cardinal O’Hara), Crystal Jones (Silver Spring, Md./Wheaton), Olivia Levin (Cape May, N.J./Lower Cape May Regional), Katherine Spae (Middletown, Del./Caravel Academy) and Madeline Williams (Oxford, Pa./Oxford Area). Spae will miss the season due to injury.

Washington will seek to improve on its offensive production in 2018-19 from a year ago where they ninth in points per game (53.3), field goal percentage (32.4%) and three-point field goal percentage (23.6%). From the free throw line last season, the Shorewomen were second in the Centennial as they made exactly 72% from the stripe. The Shorewomen did improve their offensive rebounding last season as they went from 10.8 offensive boards per game, which was last in 2016-17, to 13.8 per game, which was third. The team was also third in the CC in total rebounds per game at 41.5.

On defense, the Shorewomen were seventh in the conference in points per game allowed at 59.4 as they allowed 1.4 points less per game than the year prior and they also improved their rebounding margin as they went from -6.5 two years ago to 1.1 last winter. WC was sixth in the CC last winter in field goal percentage defense at 36.2% and seventh in three-point field goal defense at 30.6%.

Mosley’s staff for the season will consist of assistant coach Jaclyn Oskam, volunteer assistant coaches Jillyn Coleman and Karly Oristian and student assistant coach senior Brian McCloskey. Coleman is on the staff for the fifth season, Oristian is back for her third year, while Oskam and McCloskey are part of the staff for their second campaign.

Schedule Breakdown
Total Games: 25 (11 home, 12 or 13 away, one or two neutral)
Season and Home Opener: November 14 vs. Notre Dame (Md.) (7:00 p.m.)
Away Opener: November 17 vs. Ohio Wesleyan at Alvernia (2:00 p.m.)
Centennial Home Opener: November 20 vs. Swarthmore (7:00 p.m.)
Centennial Away Opener: November 27 at McDaniel (7:30 p.m.)
Centennial Home Opponents: Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins (12/1), Ursinus (12/5), Haverford (12/8), Gettysburg (1/10), Muhlenberg (1/19), Bryn Mawr (1/24), Franklin & Marshall (2/2), McDaniel (2/5), Dickinson (2/16)
Centennial Away Opponents: McDaniel, Franklin & Marshall (1/8), Dickinson (1/12), Haverford (1/22), Johns Hopkins (1/26), Swarthmore (1/30), Ursinus (2/7), Gettysburg (2/9), Bryn Mawr (2/13)
Non-Conference Home Opponent: Notre Dame (Md.)
Non-Conference Away Opponents: Alvernia * (11/18), Immaculata (12/15), Delaware Valley (1/5)
Non-Conference Neutral Opponents: Ohio Wesleyan (11/17), Penn State-Schuylkill * (11/18)

* – Opponent to be determined on the results of the Nonno Alby’s Tip-Off Tournament on 11/17 at Alvernia.