You’ll have to forgive head women’s basketball coach Mike Bozeman for not being too upset about his team’s 71-66 exhibition game loss to the DT-3 All-Stars.
With seven new players – including six freshmen – it came as no surprise to the first-year coach that the team’s play looked disjointed at times. Graduate Kim Beck, who had served as the team’s point guard the last four years, could only look on from the stands as her three replacements combined for 14 of the team’s 28 turnovers. Combined with the kinks that come from the implementation of a new, faster-paced system, problems are to be expected.
“I’m not doing back flips tonight but I’m not going to go jump off a bridge either,” said Bozeman, who was promoted in the offseason after three years as former coach Joe McKeown’s assistant. “Am I upset? No. I don’t want that to come off wrong, but I know when we go into the lab what we have to work on.”
What they have to work on, said Bozeman, is defensive intensity, a hallmark of McKeown’s tenure. Though the team held its opponents, a collection of recent college graduates who haven’t caught on elsewhere, to just 38.5 percent shooting, the Colonials had trouble getting stops during key points in the game.
Offensively, the team struggled to get into rhythm throughout. Senior forward Antelia Parrish made just three of 11 shots, putting much of the scoring burden on senior center Jessica Adair, who was named a preseason Wooden Award finalist before the game. Her play Wednesday seemed to justify the award – given to the nation’s 30 best players – as she controlled the post en route to scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds.
Her freshman teammates did not look as comfortable.
“Everybody was anxious,” Adair said. “We’ve been waiting on this week for a while – we just have to get our chemistry together.”
With the graduation of Beck, Sarah-Jo Lawrence and Whitney Allen, Bozeman is going to have to rely on his freshman class to work with the team’s veterans early and often. Shooting guard Kay-Kay Allums led the first-year players with nine points in 18 minutes, but she made just four of 12 shots. Bozeman said that despite the rookie mistakes, he was impressed with Allums and classmates Tiana Myers and Tara Booker.
The Colonials’ head man said he and the team would probably benefit more from the loss than they would have from a blowout win. The hope is that the lessons translate into sounder play on the court in time for the team’s Nov. 15 opener against Maryland, Baltimore County.
“All in all, it’s an exhibition game,” Bozeman said. “You want to win and go away with some confidence, but it’s all about growing and getting ourselves in position to start our season.”
