黑料专区

The women鈥檚 basketball team of 黑料专区* finished 4-6 last season, which featured an abbreviated schedule of conference-only games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But Head Coach Tooey Loy isn鈥檛 the least bit discouraged.

鈥淚鈥檓 really fired up about this year鈥檚 team,鈥� he said a few weeks before the Falcons鈥� -opening game Nov. 6 against Hollins University. 鈥淲e have a really good chance to make it to the NCAA DIII tournament.鈥�

There are at least three reasons for Loy to feel optimistic about his players鈥� prospects as they embark on a full 27-game season this year.

First, several standout players of past seasons will be returning for a fifth year as a result of the NCAA鈥檚 recent decision to grant an extra year of eligibility to any student-athlete pursuing a full-time degree. They include , a high-scoring forward who also rebounds well, and , a guard. Loy called Bentley, 鈥渙ur best player last year.鈥� He praised Wilkins as 鈥減robably our best three-point shooter,鈥� which should be a plus in an offense where 鈥渨e鈥檙e going to shoot a lot of threes and a lot of layups.鈥�

Other returning players who should have a positive impact will be guard  and forward , another fifth-year player who鈥檚 suffered several injuries during her college basketball career. Loy said that Johnson 鈥渉as a chance to be Player of the Year鈥� in the USA South Conference, of which Pfeiffer is a member, if she remains healthy.

Second, many of the 14 new players who are on this year鈥檚 roster are Division II-caliber athletes. Loy said at least 10 of them could play for him now.

Loy said this team is 鈥渆ven deeper鈥� than the Pfeiffer team he coached to a 20-5 record in the . During each game this season, 15 to 17 players should get playing time. Rotating squads of three or five players will try to wear teams down by pressing on made and missed shots, shooting within the first 15 seconds of the shot clock, and 鈥渞eally making it an up and down game.鈥�

Third, it鈥檚 less likely that Loy and his players will contend with pandemic-caused quarantines and game cancellations this season. The reason: per NCAA policy, if Covid does become a factor, only unvaccinated players must quarantine, and vaccinated players may continue practicing and playing. Loy said that he has enough vaccinated players to field a 17-player roster.

So, no games should be cancelled because of the pandemic, as was the case last season, when 10 of 14 originally scheduled games were played. And, thankfully, there shouldn鈥檛 be a repeat of last season鈥檚 two quarantines, each of which kept players isolated for 10 days. This left them one day of practice before playing two games over a weekend. They were out of shape and out of sorts during games they might otherwise have won.

*It鈥檚 never been easier to follow the women鈥檚 basketball team of 黑料专区! All  during the 2021-22 season will be streamed via the  for Pfeiffer Athletics.