Hiram College Terriers women’s basketball coach Alex Dellas refuses to use the word ‘rebuild’ to describe her team this season, despite rostering seven freshmen and seven sophomores. She prefers to say that the Terriers are moving forward with a new team that will try and capture their first winning season since Dellas became head coach.
“It is a different dynamic because it is the youngest team I have had,” said the seven-year coach. “We have leaders that are really respected by each other on the team. I can’t really put my finger on why it is different because every team is so different, but this team is going to be the unselfish type of team and when they talk about family, they have really embraced that, so I am excited for the season.”
Hiram’s season begins when it welcomes Fredonia for a non-conference duel to the Coleman Sports Complex’s Price Gymnasium on Nov. 14 at 6:30 p.m. and will then travel to face Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, PA on Nov. 18 at 2 p.m.
According to Dellas, although the Terriers are a young squad this season, she has been very encouraged with the way the underclassmen have pushed the four upperclassmen in practice.
“I think our first few practices have shown that our freshmen and sophomores have high basketball IQs which are exciting and so they are picking up things quickly,” she said. “They are definitely competitors and with those returning and our new rookie players, we are excited.”
Hiram projects returning three varsity starters in the starting five, including junior center Brooke Hickman, who averaged 12.8 points sand 9.9 rebounds last season.
“We are really excited about her,” Dellas said. “She is a threat in the paint and does a great job on the boards for us so she is someone we obviously project big things for.”
Joining Hickman in the starting line-up will be sophomore guard Ava Mory, who recorded 4.5 points and grabbed 6.5 rebounds per game last year and senior point guard Maddie Rakestraw, who posted 7.3 points a game and shot .283 from beyond the arc.
“Ava is another great player in the paint and gets on the boards and is just continuing to get better and better,” Dellas said. “We are excited about Maddie and her leadership on the court as a returning starter as well.”
Some of the underclassmen who are expected to be valuable contributors are freshman guard Payton Black, forward Star Owens, and forward Samantha Volpe.
“They just bring a lot of energy and are a lot of fun,” said Dellas. “When you have a young team, it is exciting as a coach because there is more you can do and more you can teach. To be around a younger team is a different type of excitement. It is fun to be hands-on and progress with them and see them learn things at basically every practice.”
Dellas acknowledged that with all of Hiram’s new pieces, its depth will be tested because the rotations will be constantly changing at the beginning of the season to see what will work.
In addition to their youth, the Terriers will also be fighting a size disadvantage, given that their tallest players, Hickman and freshman center Rylie Petroff, are only 6-foot-1.
“I think we are going to rely on our scrappiness and have to outwork opponents,” said Dellas. “You cannot change our size and we are not the biggest team. We play with a lot of heart and are very competitive and we have to rely on the things we do well to beat that size.”
Dellas said one way Hiram hopes to overcome that weakness is to play aggressive defense and rely more on a scoring-by-committee approach after graduating several offensive contributors.
“We have had some dominant offensive threats that have come in and they have not been selfish at all,” Dellas said. “They have been dominant players, so I think we have and are going to be able to share the ball more and capitalize on teams’ weaknesses to really target that.”
The Terriers will also try to find most of their offensive success by taking mid-range shots. Dellas said there is not set target for how many three-point shots she wants her team to attempt in each game but is giving her players the green light to take as many attempts as they deem appropriate.
The new Terriers will be learning on the fly, given that Hiram competes in the North Coast Athletic Conference, one of the most competitive Division III conferences in the nation.
“There are no cupcake games, and we are not just going to go in and expect to win,” Dellas added. “We have to come up with a great scout and have to know our opponents and make sure we study them and have to be really confident in ourselves and in our team because it is a really fun conference to be a part of because it is so challenging.”
