Cardinals looking for another shot to the top

By Corrine McCallum
Cardinal Staff

With a winning season of 18-4 in conference play last year, the Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball team hopes to come out on top again while concentrating on how to adjust from last season to be just as
successful.

As the season is getting started, there are always goals that need to be accomplished, according to head coach Mandy Pearson. “Our goal is the same every season, to make sure our coaching staff does everything we can to improve ourselves and help our team improve every single day,” she said.

In order for the team to improve, it is important that the ladies improve theirstrengths in the many aspects of the game. “We will be a very unselfish group this year, so I think the biggest thing is, that we need a few
people to step up and be willing to take open shots,” said Pearson.

“We graduated four great players and leaders so we will have a different personality to the team,” Pearson said. “While I am already very happy with the leadership on our team, I am very excited to see if anyone will
emerge into another leader on our team,” she added.

Senior post player Courtney Euerle is back for her last year as a cardinal. Euerle, a key player on the team, averaged 9.2 points per game, and 6.7 rebounds per game in the 2012-2013 season.

With only nine returning players from last season, Euerle said that the chemistry of the team is great so far. The new players want to learn new things and ask questions.

As a co-captain this 2013-2014 season, Euerle said a lot has changed from last season to this season. “It took only a few short days in the beginning of preseason for me to realize that I have a greater responsibility with this team and I am held accountable for things that I have not been responsible for in the past,” said Euerle.

Euerle is very excited with the season quickly approaching. She said, “I seriously love this team and cannot wait to spend my senior year with all of them and creating memories that I will cherish for a lifetime.”

Pearson and Euerle both agree that as a team they need to take one day at a time. “We need to focus every single day on improving individually and as a team so that each day we compete and perform at our highest level,” said Pearson.

“I think that if we just come to practice everyday wanting to get better or wanting the same experience we had last year, we still do have the potential to be just as good,” said Euerle.