MARSHFIELD, Mass. – The Southern Vermont College women’s basketball team has started its journey to get back into the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.
The league released the results of its 2018-19 preseason poll on Friday with the Mountaineers being selected to finish eighth by the Conference coaches.
SVC—led by second-year head coach Christin Gowan—started its campaign on Thursday with a tough 65-58 loss at SUNY Cobleskill.
“I expect us to come out and compete day-in and day-out and surprise a lot of people in the process,” Gowan said. “I think we have a very talented group which has bought into the vision of what our program could be if we work relentlessly. We have to have more ball handlers, more scorers, and more defensive stoppers; I think the pieces we added to the roster this year will fill some of those gaps.”
The Mountaineers went 4-21 last year with a 3-13 mark in league play.
“We have a much deeper team this year, so we've been able to scrimmage and get more live action,” Gowan said. “We struggled with injuries and a small roster early last season, so we couldn't really get up and down the floor with 5-on-5 in practice. Having that extra experience helped us get into shape faster and build team chemistry quicker this year.”
Gowan returns five players to the floor from the 2017-18 squad while welcoming nine new Mountaineers to the program. Among those incomers are six freshmen in addition to one sophomore and two junior transfers.
“I am very proud of both the incoming and returning players,” Gowan commented. “The players who chose to return understand what we are trying to accomplish and are willing to bounce back after a tough season last year. The incoming players believed in how special SVC is and how special our team could be with the right personnel. Also, I am thrilled to have [Assistant Coach] Lauren [Godde] by my side after being her teammate—and then coach—years ago. She has been an excellent addition, and I can already see her enthusiasm, knowledge, and passion influencing our team.”
Southern Vermont only has four games on the docket to start the year before jumping into the NECC schedule. The team’s home opener will also serve as its league opener when the Mountaineers host New England College on Tuesday, November 20 for a 7 p.m. tip-off. SVC will push to make it into the Conference’s eight-team postseason tournament slated for the end of February.
“We have to put in a tremendous amount of work both during and outside of practice,” Gowan added. “Right now, the focus is on our chemistry, timing, and our overall scheme. There is so much to do while we are trying to revamp our program that we don't have time right now to shoot hundreds of shots during our limited practice time.”
Becker College, the defending NECC champion, took the top spot in the preseason poll with four of the 10 first-place votes. League newcomers Eastern Nazarene College and NEC tied at second with three and two first-place nods, respectively. Dean College received the final top vote to rank fifth.
2018-19 Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll
1. Becker College – 89 (4)
T2. Eastern Nazarene College – 76 (3)
T2. New England College – 76 (2)
4. Newbury College – 70
5. Dean College – 61 (1)
6. Mitchell College – 58
7. Elms College – 52
8. Southern Vermont College – 29
9. Lesley University – 26
10. Bay Path University – 13
(Parentheses denote first-place votes)
– #LetsGoSVC –