Women's Basketball

Young veterans lead Gulls into '09

Despite just two seniors and one junior on the roster, the Salisbury University women's basketball team might be a deceptively ideal mix of youth and experience. Along with the three upperclassmen, three sophomores return who bring a wealth of experience, along with a group of freshmen that has known success.

"I'm excited about the potential of this team. We are babies, we're very, very young," SU head coach Charisse Mapp said. "Almost everyone returns from last year's team that experienced a rollercoaster ride, but ended the season well.  And the freshmen come in with passion, enthusiasm and high expectations. They bring all of this to a young experienced team."

Even before the 2008-09 season began, the Sea Gulls were a tight-knit group, allowing them to handle the ups and downs that came with their 9-17 run a year ago. After struggling early, they relied on each other and it was the sum of the team that helped them to close the regular season by winning eight of their final 11 games.

"I think the last month, month and a half, of last season was instrumental in our growth as a program toward what we want to achieve. It spoke very highly of the young women themselves, to their ability to persevere and push through and maintain focus despite having a poor first half of the year," Mapp said.

Six of the players from that group return to lead the team into the 2009-10 season, which begins this weekend as the team travels to Raleigh, N.C., for the Jackie Ammons Memorial Tournament at Peace College.

Guards
The Sea Gulls will be a young team, and the back court will be the most youthful, though that doesn't mean Mapp will not have leadership and experience at the position. Coming into this season, junior Chante' McKinney (Gaithersburg, Md.) will be the leader in the back court. Entering her third year, McKinney comes in healthy, having missed a handful of games due to injury last season, and ready to lead.

"After the summer, she returned to campus in better physical condition than she had the previous year," Mapp said. "She came back with a more determined focus and she's been going hard. I think her leadership on the perimeter is going to be instrumental in the development of very young perimeter players."

McKinney, named one of the team's three captains, recorded a team-high 3.2 assists per game, playing in 20 of the Sea Gulls' 26 games last year.

Sophomores Glen Charlton (Landover, Md.), Meghan Dunn (Olney, Md.) and KC Curran (Malvern, Pa.) return in the back court. Despite being in their second season with the program, they have more experience as a group than most any trio of sophomores in the country. None averaged fewer than 24 minutes per game last year with Curran, also a captain this season, leading the way playing a team-high 35.4 minutes per game.

"They are seasoned veterans as sophomores," Mapp said. "All three of them had the ability to contribute. Once we got rolling, they each came with a unique strength."

Charlton finished the 2008-09 season with the third-best scoring average on the team, putting home 10.0 points per game while Dunn was one of Salisbury's key reserves. She started just 10 games, but played significant minutes in all 26.

Like the freshmen last year, Nichole Muller (Flanders, N.J.), Katie McGahagan (Pasadena, Md.) and Tabitha Russell (Lanham, Md.) are all players that could be key players instantly, but they won't be required to do so.

 "Katie and Nichole were recruited to impact the program," Mapp said. "They have the ability, but there's no pressure on them to do so."

Russell is a player in the mold of Charlton, who came in and was one of the quickest players in any game she was in, playing a key role on defense. Russell has made her presence known on the defensive end of the floor through the preseason, and is expected to keep up that role into the regular season.

Front Court
The senior class will be what leads the front court into the 2009-10 season, with Janay Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) and captain Kylie Hall (Baltimore, Md.) leading the way.

"I have a special place for that senior class and junior class," Mapp said. "They've been with me for two seasons; they've trusted each other, they've trusted me and now I believe they're going to see the fruits of their labor."

Johnson and Hall represent the top two scorers from last season, putting up 11.8 and 11.0 points respectively. They are also the top two rebounders on the team, with Hall bringing down 9.3 boards per game to Johnson's 7.0.

"Kylie Hall and Janay Johnson are outstanding people, the hardest workers - they give it their all," Mapp said. "They want to do everything possible for this program and they are excited for their senior year."

They will be joined on the front line by freshmen Nicole Sisco (Fairlawn, N.J.) and Chandel Brown (Burtonsville, Md.); both players know what it takes to excel. Sisco, who hasn't seen the floor in the preseason due to injury, won a state volleyball championship in New Jersey and was on a basketball team that came up just short, while Brown collected a basketball state title in Maryland at Paint Branch High School.

 "They're babies, but they come in with a little steel in their back bones in terms of pushing through to excellence," Mapp said. "It's going to be interesting because they are different, they each bring something unique to the court."

Schedule
After this weekend's trip to Raleigh, the Sea Gulls return home for the Thanksgiving holiday followed by their Capital Athletic Conference opener against Hood College on Dec. 2, then they will host the Optimist Classic at Maggs Physical Activities Center on Dec. 4 and 5. Salisbury will play some top teams both at home and on the road through the non-conference schedule including The College of New Jersey, Washington College and Goucher College before getting into the remainder of its conference schedule in early January.

"For us, having a very strong non-conference schedule helps us in our conference, because our conference is one of the stronger conferences in the region and nationally," Mapp said. "Annually, several teams go to post-season play and we believe it's time to rejoin the fun."