Lesley Women's Basketball Season Preview

Preview

The Lesley University women's basketball team comes into the 2008-2009 season with tremendous optimism and enthusiasm towards winning a New England Collegiate Conference title.  The returning players have invested a lot of time and effort into adopting a system that has been in place since 2006 and they truly believe that this is the season when that hard work will finally pay dividends.

Among the strengths this team exhibits are experience, height and depth in the frontcourt, and their ability to shoot the basketball.  Four of five starters return from a year ago along with four players who contributed quality minutes off the bench.  The system that is in place promotes significant playing time from all ten members of the team to help counter foul trouble and injury. 

One major goal this season for Lesley is to hold a significant advantage in the rebounding department.  The Lynx are tall, with all frontcourt players checking in at least 5'10", but the coaching staff emphasizes that there needs to be a desire to win the battle on the glass in order to control the tempo of the game. 

The last quality about the women's basketball team is their ability to take quality, high-percentage shots through effective passing and limiting turnovers.  The Lynx will look to be one of the better shooting teams in the conference as several of their players have matured since last year.

Captains

Senior Lani Cabral-Pini (Wilmington, Mass.) and junior Georgia Saltzman (Lynn, Mass.) will serve as the team's captains once again this year.  Cabral-Pini derives her leadership from being the team's point guard her entire career, a three-sport athlete, and a model student in the classroom.  Saltzman has done a great job of pre-season preparation by running captains practices, communicating on and off the court, and being a leader by example.

Returners

Along with the captains, there are seven returning players for the Lynx.  Senior Kelly Harrington (Toledo, Ohio) is a lights out shooter and a motivator for her teammates.  Fellow senior Christina DiGiorgio (Lowell, Mass.) provides much needed depth at both guard spots that was not there last season.  DiGiorgio has the ability to score and her quickness will bolster the defense.

Junior Hailee Lowe (Hamilton, Mass.) suffered a season-ending injury early last season, but the six-footer can play the 4 or 5 spot.  She has the ability to score facing the basket and in the low-post.  Jodi Fralick (Woburn, Mass.) uses her athleticism to frustrate opponents defensively and is a reliable point guard for the Lynx.

Lesley's sophomore class is truly a remarkable bunch.  Brianne Caira (Pelham, N.H.) could easily become of premier players of the new conference with her ability to shoot a long-range jump shot and be a low-post option on offense.  Kaitlyn Wechsler (Merrick, N.Y.) can play three or four different positions which makes her extremely difficult to prepare to defend against.  Inside and outside, it does not matter as Wechsler can do it all on the court.  Cassidy Freed (Brattleboro, Vt.) has made great strides in her ability to rebound and will also be a shutdown defender against opposing forwards.

Newcomers

Rachel O'Mara (Levittown, Pa.), a transfer from St. John's Fischer, brings a diverse set of talents to the court much like her teammates Lowe and Wechsler.  She can play down low, can score in tight places, and has good shooting range as well.

Schedule Outlook

By the time the Lynx reach their conference schedule, the team should be ready to be one of the elite teams in the NECC.  The first semester is packed with tough road match ups against Colby-Sawyer, Emmanuel, Bridgewater State, and Babson which are household names in the local Division III ranks.  The Lynx will also be taking on Suffolk and Emerson again this season.  Towards the end of 2008, the women's basketball team will fly out to Arizona for a challenging tournament where they will face Eastern regional mainstays New Jersey College and Plattsburgh State.

Lesley has their eyes set on winning the conference title.  Becker and Elms have been fierce rivals for the Lynx the last couple of years and Bay Path and Wheelock have made improvements over the past year.  Newer opponents like Daniel Webster and Mitchell will provide intriguing new challenges.  All of the NECC teams will be vying for the opportunity to be the first ever conference champions which will make for a competitive 2008-2009 season.

To learn more about the Lesley University women's basketball team, please visit their website.

Contact:          Rob Palardy
                        Sports Information Director
                        Lesley University
                        617.349.8627 (office)
                        617.349.8640 (fax)
                        rpalardy@lesley.edu