By: William Burns
Now that the Saint Leo women’s basketball season has been wrapped up, it is time to look back at notable performers of the year and recognize the players who had the biggest impact on the court. No matter how the season turned out, there is always something good to look at and something good to look forward to with the future of the program.
The women’s team did not make the playoffs winning only 10 games, while losing 18 of them. The team ended with five wins in conference compared to 15 losses, trailed only by Florida Tech, and Palm Beach Atlantic, who finished out the bottom of the Sunshine State Conference standings.
Head coach Anthony Crocitto had some words about the season. “We have a lot of young players, and the team encountered some injuries throughout the season that set us back. However, the team was resilient, and they have hunger, which is a good foundation for next season.”
Saint Leo finished with a record of 10-18 and going into next season coach Crocitto said, “We need to take our aggressiveness to the next level in order to get into the top of the conference.” Credit: saintleolions.com
The women’s team was lower than their opponents in most major categories, but there were two that the Lions excelled at; these were blocks per game, and three-pointers made per game. However, even though they made more deep shots per game, they shot a lower percentage than opponents, leading to an average point gap of nearly eight points behind their opponents.
The team will be losing Casey Wortley, who was the team’s leading scorer, averaging 11 points per game, and hauling in a little less than six rebounds per game. She also was top five on the team in steals with 27 and led the team in blocks with 38. Asia Royster will also be leaving the team. Royster was a top five scorer on the team, averaging over seven points per game.
In the interview with coach Crocitto, he talked about how this conference is one of the hardest conferences in the nation for division two basketball. “We had a really young team, but Alani Gallagher showed promise in the last month of the season to become one of the best players in the conference. We also have some promising freshmen, but the whole team will need to put in a lot of hard work over the offseason and narrow our focus to build the program to new heights.”
Crocitto also talked about Gina Brierley’s leadership role on the team. “Gina does a fantastic job in the classroom and community and has elevated her game compared to the last two seasons.”
Now that this season is over, coach Crocitto has some goals for the coming season. “We need to build a tough program that is mentally tougher than we were this season. We need to take our aggressiveness to the next level in order to get into the top of the conference. Our team is so academically dominant in the classroom, and I want to see that dominance on the court too.”
The women’s team is definitely excited for next season and hopes that they can keep getting fans to watch their games and cheer them on as they look to build off this seasons success.
