Yesterday the women's basketball team faced off against the Baldwin-Wallace Yellow Jackets and came away stung. Looking at the team, it seems all the components of a winning season are there in the mix. It's a good balance of youth and experience; one would expect the Cardinal team to contend for an Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) title. The team stomped all over the Otterbein Smokey Ballinger Classic.
Otterbein returns four healthy starters from last season's squad, all of whom earned All-OAC recognition. Junior Sarah Esterkamp is recovering from a broken leg suffered in the spring. Esterkamp was a 2006-07 Second Team All-OAC Forward.
"Having such experienced players and a great bench, we expect to be able to play a lot of people," said junior point guard Laura Roth. "We have one of the most talented teams OC women's basketball has ever had, and we're going to use all that talent to our advantage."
Guiding the Cardinals once again in 2007-08 will be 17-year head coach Connie Richardson. The former All-American and Heidelberg standout ranks as the "winningest" coach in women's basketball at Otterbein, compiling a 209-176 record over 16 seasons. The teams she has coached have posted winning records in 10 of the last 12 seasons.
"The competition among those returning is going to do nothing but make us a better team," said Richardson.
Leading the flock will be seniors Sara Fee, Ana Gamble, Chelsea Callif and Katie Homan. They will provide leadership for what should once again be a balanced Cardinal attack.
Roth, a junior point guard from Cincinnati Mother of Mercy High School, earned first team All-OAC honors last season. Roth started all 26 games as point guard, and led the conference in steals, averaging 3.1 per game. Roth ranked fifth in NCAA Division III in three-point field-goal percentage at just over 45 percent. Roth scored in double figures in 23 games last season.
"With the teammates I have it doesn't take too much from just one person to make the team go," said Roth. "I have so much trust in each one of my teammates, anybody at any given point in the game can score."
"The great thing about Laura is that she makes everyone around her very good," said Richardson. "She's a complete point guard who handles the ball well and is a great shooter."
Fee and Gamble earned All-OAC Honorable Mention a year ago. Both bring leadership and athleticism to the hardwood. Fee's 2.2 steals per game ranked third in the conference, while handing out a team-leading 14 blocks. Fee reached double figures in scoring in 18 games last winter, while Gamble scored 10 or more points in 19 contests.
Otterbein returns the conference's top freshman from a year ago. Katy Miller joined Fee and Gamble on the All-OAC Honorable Mention squad, and was also tabbed OAC Freshman of the Year. The Delaware Hayes product started all 26 games at center, and posted an impressive 11.4 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.
As good as the freshman was a year ago, she admits the learning process is ongoing.
"I learned that it is important to work hard during the off season and I needed to get in the gym during season more than just practice," Miller said. "College basketball is way more demanding, and I learned that to be successful I needed to put in the time and effort."
The team tipped off the 2007-08 season at Carnegie Mellon for the UAA-OAC Challenge Nov. 16, losing to both Carnegie Mellon and Case Western. The season took an upswing heading into the start of winter quarter, with wins against Franklin and Saint Mary's in late December but the loss to Baldwin Wallace is a setback. Next up for the team is Heidelberg.
