The Capital Crusaders will dive into their 2011-2012 season Nov. 18, renewed after an upsetting loss to Mount Union in the OAC semifinal tournament game (79-55) last season.
Head Coach Dixie Jeffers said that fans can expect to see a new and defensively-improved team this year, despite the graduation of last year’s defensive threats, Tara Harper and Christine Schwartz.
Several new faces will take the court this season. The team consists of 16 players, including five freshmen, six sophomore, three juniors and two seniors. Only 12 are healthy and two also competed on the OAC-Champion women’s soccer team, which just finished their season on Nov. 12 in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Jeffers said that this year’s “top returning player” is senior Hilary Kuhns. Last season, Kuhns was chosen first team all-OAC and was a huge offensive threat for Capital, averaging 12.5 points per game and scoring over 20 points in three different games. Her three-point percentage was 46.2%, which placed her first in the conference. She also led her team in assists and rebounds.
The first matchup for the Crusaders is Hope College, a tough Division III team from Holland, MI who completed last season with a 27-3 record and were Co-Champions for the MIAA. Capital will play Hope College in a tournament at Mount St. Joseph’s in Cincinnati at 1 p.m. Friday.
Despite their three-game losing streak to Mount Union in the 2011-2012 season, Jeffers isn’t prepping her team for this game quite yet.
“We prep for one game at a time,” Jeffers said. “Right now, all I can think about is Hope.”
Senior captains Kuhns and Hawkins say that their first game against Mount Union will be an early test, but they believe that their biggest game will be against the third-ranked team in preseason voting, Ohio Northern at Ohio Northern.
“We’ve never won there, and I want to win there my senior season,” said Hawkins.
As well as beating Ohio Northern, winning their conference, and making it to the NCAA Tournament, Kuhns and Hawkins have other big goals for their senior seasons.
“I want to be an effective leader and average a double-double,” Hawkins said.
“One of my goals is to be player of the year,” Kuhns said. “Coach (Jeffers) is pushing for me to accomplish that.”
