coast guard women's basketball preview 2017-18 The Coast Guard women’s basketball team heads into the 2017-18 season with a deep roster that will look to the leadership of their upper-class and the athleticism of their underclass to make a deep run in the NEWMAC Tournament for the sixth straight year.
The Bears return 10 players from last year’s team that won eight of their final nine regular season games earning a trip to the NEWMAC quarterfinals.
Leading Coast Guard this season will be senior Gillian Gerton who has started 49 games in her career averaging 10.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. She is on pace to become the 10th player in school history with 1,000 points and has the most blocks in program history (102).
In the junior class, Micaela Martinelli, Johanna Moolenaar and Jayla Joyner have combined to play in 120 games for Coast Guard and will be solid options for the Bears on both ends of the court.
“Johanna and Micaela have made huge strides. Johanna picked up her play at the end of last season and has continued that growth,” added Ivansheck. “Micaela gives us size at the guard position. She is creative with her scoring and her unorthodox style makes her difficult to defend.”
“Jayla returns to full strength for her junior season and has played well during preseason,” continued Ivansheck. “She is seeing the floor well and is making good decisions with the basketball.”
Sophomores Breanna Wood, Laura Irish and Zoe Riis-Fallica will benefit from big minutes as freshmen and will continue to improve in their second year.
Coast Guard brings in four freshmen, Annabella Farabaugh, Rachel Everson, Meghan O’Brien and Brenna Farrington, who immediately lengthen the Bears bench and bring an immediate athletic boost to the team.
With a balanced roster and a number of options, the team is ready to attack their difficult schedule with non-conference games against Catholic, Fisher, Johnson & Wales and Trinity along with their always difficult NEWMAC schedule.
“We play in a quality conference and it is important that we go into each game with the proper mind set and never take a night off.”