The Willamette University women’s basketball team returns six players from last year and has added nine new players to the roster for the 2010-11 season. The Bearcats finished 4-21 overall and 2-14 in the Northwest Conference last season. The team will be led by senior guard Alex Zennan, who was an Honorable Mention AllNWC selection last year after averaging 14.6 points per game. She scored in double-digits in 21 games and posted a season-high 27 points on three different occasions. Seniors Erin Barclay and Shayna Glynn will help lead a Willamette team that includes seven freshmen and two transfer students. Kaileigh Westermann (Jr.), Maya McFaddin (Jr.) and Sophie Wilson (So.) also return for the Bearcats. Westermann finished the 2009-10 season averaging 6.5 points per game and 6.8 rebounds per game. She started in all 25 contests as a sophomore. McFaddin, who started in 21 games for the Bearcats last season, averaged 4.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. Wilson hopes to increase her scoring in her sophomore season for Willamette, after scoring five or more
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Season Preview
points in four of WU’s last five games. Wilson played in all 25 games as a freshman. She gave WU depth at the guard position. Kelsey Mueller (Fr.) and Breanne Faehnrich (Fr.) will add depth at the guard positions for Willamette. At the forward position, the Bearcats have added six players. Transfers Dora Rabih (Jr.) and Andrea Harris (Jr.) will each see time at the forward position. Bearcat freshmen Rebecca Josephson, Tia Williams, Alexa Beeson and MacKenzie Lamson will all battle for time as forwards this year. Inside the paint, WU will look to freshman Alex Brunt-Pluta. Brunt-Pluta’s 6’0” frame will help the Bearcats increase their toughness near the basket. The Bearcats averaged 52.1 points per game under the direction of first year Head Coach Anne Lapray in 2009-10. Willamette shot 32.8% from the field and 62.3% from the free throw line last season. Willamette intends to greatly improve its defensive pressure and win the rebounding battle on a more consistent basis in the coming season. More overall depth should help the Bearcats in the 2010-11 season.
The Bearcats were picked to finish ninth in the Northwest Conference Preseason Poll, as voted on by the head coaches. George Fox University is the early favorite to repeat as NWC Champions.
Erin Barclay