WOMEN'S BASKETBALL SEASON IN
REVIEW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
March 26, 2003
Contact:
Angela Aja
Armed with the Northeast-10 Conference's top
offense and some of its most dangerous players, the Saint Michael's
College women's basketball team shunned its predicted 14th-place finish by
recording the program's best record in 12 years and charging into the
playoffs as the league's sixth-best squad.
After
a 3-3 start, the Purple Knights, who averaged an astonishing 73.1 points
per game, won 14 of their next 19 games and finished with a 17-12
overall record, including 12-10 in the NE-10. Along the way, the Purple
Knights finished 12-3 at home and notched a school-record 10-game
winning streak at Ross Sports Center. Participating in the NE-10
playoffs for the first time since 1998-99, the sixth-seeded Purple
Knights lost at home to No. 11 Assumption before drawing a No. 4 seed in
the ECAC tournament, where they lost a semifinal game to host and top
seed Philadelphia.
The
season concluded with Head Coach Sue Duprat's decision to retire
after 27 seasons at the helm of the program, during which time she
compiled a 327-355 record and coached nearly 97 percent of the games in
the program's history. Her teams recorded at least 16 wins 10 times,
including this past season.
Senior
co-captain Liz LeFebvre (Milton, Vt.), named NE-10 Co-Player of
the Year as well as to the Daktronics All-Northeast Region first team,
led the league in scoring average (19.8), rebounding average (10.0) and
double-doubles (15). She finished the season ranked 19th in the nation
as of March 20th. She set career-highs with 31 points against Saint Rose
on Feb. 5 and 20 rebounds against East Stroudsburg on Nov. 24 and was
named NE-10 Player of the Week four times. This season, LeFebvre set
single-season school records for points (573), field goal percentage and
field goals made (241), and with 291 rebounds she nearly became the
second Purple Knight with 300 in a season. Arguably, the most complete
post player ever at Saint Michael's, she will graduate as the school's
all-time second leading scorer (1,553 points) and fourth-leading
rebounder (876). She holds the school record for field goal percentage
(53.8 percent) and finished third in blocked shots (153).
Senior
co-captain Jes Hambley (South Hadley, Mass.) notched a
school-record 222 assists this season, the second-most in Division II
and fourth-most in Divisions I through III. She also averaged 14.2
points, good for 10th in the league, and hit 70 percent of her free
throws while setting a career-high by draining 61 three-pointers.
Hambley collected double-doubles six times this season, each time with
10-plus assists. She also tied a school record with 16 helpers against
Green Mountain on Jan. 17. Jes will graduate with the ninth-most points
in school history (1,182) as one of only 12 Purple Knights to reach the
1,000-point barrier. During her career, she notched the second-most
three-pointers (198) and fourth-most assists (435) in school history.
Junior
Erica Kensey (Bow, N.H.) was one of the top all-around players in
the league, ranking fifth in each scoring average (15.0 ppg) and
rebounding average (8.0 rpg), second in steals (93) and 10th in blocks
(22). She also contributed 77 assists, knocked down 74 percent of her
free throws and collected double-doubles nine times. Classmate Lindsey
Bradt (Albany, N.Y.), a junior college transfer, made an immediate
impact over the first 11 games before sitting out the next 14 games and
returning just in time for the playoffs. She finished with averages of
13.3 points, 7.7 boards and 3.8 assists. She also shot 51 percent from
the field and 80 percent from the charity stripe.
A
trio of freshman guards led one of the best recruiting classes in years.
Brigid Hegarty (North Andover, Mass.) started the first 19 games
of the season and knocked down a freshman record 48 three-pointers on
34.3 percent shooting. She averaged 6.4 points and hit 80 percent of her
free throws. Holly Reeves (Arlington, Mass.) hit 38 percent of
her three-point attempts and 76.5 percent of her free throws while
averaging 5.5 points. Kayla Waite (Butler, N.J.) shot a team-best
81.3 percent on free throws despite being limited to 24 games due to hip
problems. Waite averaged 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds.
-SI
Student Assistant Josh Kessler '03
###PURPLEKNIGHTS### |
