Even though winter is still around the corner, the Sharks basketball team has been preparing for their season for weeks.
“The team chemistry is improving each practice and every time we step on the basketball court,” said fourth year captain Liz O’Connor. “We are learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses.”
“Our season is so long and we see and play with each other everyday, so we consider ourselves sisters,” said third year captain Hannah May. “We are family and hopefully we’ll play like it.”
Coming off of a 4-20 overall record from last season, the Sharks are ready to turn this season around. The team is almost completely different than last year; half of their team is new. They were having some issues with recruitment, but they are not worried about it.
“It’s been tough with losing our seniors from last season and losing some players to school, but we’ve been dealing with it,” said May. “We have five freshmen this year so having those numbers are definitely helping.”
“Everyone wants to be here and wants to work hard to improve as a team,” said O’Connor. “It’s a brand new team from last year.”
The team has ten members, with five returners and five first years. Those returning with O’Connor are third years Leah Davis, Hannah May, Georgia Kostopoulus, and second year Olivia (Liv) Lacroix.
The first years consist of Gracie Rolfe, Jen Janiak, Eliza Henley, Chanel Thomas, and Nicole Alberghini. Thomas and Alberghini are both two-sport athletes, playing straight through from volleyball to basketball.
“My goals for the season are to stay unified as a team and also work hard every game,” said O’Connor. “I want our team to be a team that other teams are afraid to play against because we are going to put up a fight and not give up.”
“Our team goals are to be a unified team that will help each other reach our ultimate goal of making it to the GNAC playoffs this year,” said May. “We are focusing on learning from last season and to bounce back to a winning season. “
“I want our team to be a team that other teams are afraid to play against because we are going to put up a fight and not give up.”
-Liz O’Connor
O’Connor was the lead scorer last year with 301 points, starting all games except for one. May started every game last year.
This is the second year for head coach Kristen Rasmussen Tarr, who has played for the WNBA and overseas.
The Sharks kick off their season on Nov. 17 with a weekend long tournament in Connecticut.
