ESU Women's Basketball 2007-08 Season Preview

The East Stroudsburg University women's basketball team enters the 2007-08 season as the two-time defending PSAC East regular season champions, and has been tabbed as the favorite to win the title once again this winter.

The Warriors are coming off a 25-4 season in which they tied the school record for victories in a single season, but if they are to repeat, they will have to do it with a host of new faces playing key roles.

Gone are a pair of four-year starters in Maryellen Onofre and Amy Jones, who helped take the program from a 7-20 record in their freshman year to a 41-16 mark over the last two seasons.

Alyssa Antolick also joined the squad as a fifth-year senior following an All-American career at DeSales and was named first team All-PSAC East in her only year at ESU.

While the Warriors lose 25 points, 12 rebounds and all of the intangibles associated with three senior leaders, they still return three starters and nine letterwinners, led by junior guard Jackie Yandrisevits.

A returning first team All-PSAC East selection and the conference's Rookie of the Year as a freshman, Yandrisevits will take on expanded responsibilities in the offense, a tall order for a player who has already led ESU in scoring (14.8 ppg in 2006-07) in each of her first two years.

As the Warriors' main scoring option, Yandrisevits will face the opponent's best defender and constant double-teams, which will make it tougher to use her athleticism to get to the basket and create her own shot.

Her new role may be that of playmaker and distributing the ball to other capable scorers, including senior forward Monika Fogelsanger and redshirt freshman forward Karla Cardona.

Fogelsanger averaged seven points and six rebounds in each of her first two seasons before seeing a slight decline in production a year ago with the addition of Antolick, but still recorded career-high shooting percentages from the field (47.9) and the foul line (84.2) while logging the third-most minutes on the team.

Cardona was the Lehigh Valley Conference MVP as a senior at Allen High School in 2005-06 before redshirting last season, and will be counted on as an immediate scoring threat in her first year on the floor.

Yandrisevits will be joined in the backcourt by sophomore point guard Mel Villano, who averaged 3.4 points per game while starting all 29 games alongside Onofre as a freshman.

Junior Keri Cahill will be the backup point guard and raises the energy level when she's on the floor. She was also one of two guards with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (38-34) last season.

Jhazmin Brown, last year's PSAC East Rookie of the Year, and DeAnna Rayam give ESU a pair of athletic sophomore guards who made major contributions as freshmen.

Rayam scored 7.8 ppg through the first 16 games before suffering a season-ending knee injury but has returned at full strength this fall. She ranks second behind Yandrisevits among the Warriors' top returning scorers and is also ESU's best perimeter defender.

Brown is the third-leading returning scorer, averaging 6.9 ppg while shooting 49.4 percent from the floor as a freshman, and was the second straight Warrior to earn conference Rookie of the Year honors.

Sheila Gallagher and Brittany Lacey, two senior three-point specialists, are also expected to contribute on the wing. Lacey may see some minutes in the post as well due to a lack of numbers, as sophomore center Alexa Detzi is a candidate to redshirt following major knee surgery. Junior Shannon Simpson may also see time at forward for ESU.

Guards Kristen Murray and Amanda Pavalko, who both come from district championship high school programs, are the top incoming freshmen for the Warriors.

Murray is expected to replace some of the three-point shooting that was lost with the graduation of Antolick and Onofre, who both shot better than 40 percent from long distance last season.

Pavalko has a strong reputation on the defensive end of the floor and is capable of making an immediate impact as a freshman.

Point guard Phelan Livingston, forward Rachel Grimes and center Casey Stanton are also in their first year with the Warriors, and may have the opportunity to contribute as they adjust to the college game.