Promising Young Roster Ready for Start of Women’s Basketball Season

Despite having only one returning player, Cayuga Community College's Women's Basketball Team features a deep roster that has already shown promise in the preseason.

The 2019-2020 Spartans are looking to build on the previous season's 6-16 record, and will have to do so with a roster comprised almost exclusively of freshmen. Only forward Tajhia Jones returns to the team, but Coach Jim Alberici said the Spartans are athletic and have shot well in a handful of exhibitions.

The goal is consistency and game-to-game improvement, said Alberici.

"We've had some really strong stretches in these scrimmages to open the season. And then we've had some lulls where we don't score as much. That inconsistency happens with younger teams sometimes, but it's something we're working on and it will improve throughout the season," he said.

Depth should be a strong suit for this year's team, noted Alberici, who said the caliber player from the starters to the reserves is consistent across the nine-player roster.

The team's early-season schedule should also help with game-to-game improvement and consistency. The Spartans open with four straight home games and don't have a road contest until late November. 

Early in the season the team twice has week-long intervals between games, which should allow coaches and players to identify areas where improvement is needed, and have the time to make those adjustments, said Alberici.

With such a young roster, the team will have some adjustments, but he also noted that the deep talent pool combined with the team's athleticism has him optimistic for the season.

"I realize playing at a collegiate level will be new for most of our players, but we've already seen improvement from practices and the scrimmages. That's what we're looking for," he said. "But we're shooting the ball well, we're pretty athletic and we have good size on the team. We're excited, and we're ready to get the regular season started."

The Spartans open the season Saturday, Nov. 2, with a 1 p.m. game at Spartan Hall against Hudson Valley Community College. They follow that up the next day, Nov. 3, with another home contest against SUNY Adirondack, also at 1 p.m.