Gophers Launch 2013-14 Season Against Wilkes

TOWSON, Md. — With the start of its season now only hours away, the Goucher women's basketball team will be relying on contributions from everyone on its roster as it attempts to move up in the Landmark Conference.

The Gophers return eight players from last year's squad which finished 6-18, including a 2-12 mark in Landmark play. They will be joined by a pair of newcomers to round out a compact roster.

"We have to play stronger as a team unit this season and utilize everyone's strengths," head coach Didi Cotton said. "Every player brings a different set of skills to the table, and we will have to rely on all of them if we want to be successful."

Goucher's season begins tomorrow at the McDaniel Tip-Off Tournament with an 8 p.m. matchup against Wilkes. The Gophers will then play either McDaniel or Mary Baldwin on Saturday afternoon.

Seniors Sharnell Huff (Bowie, Md./Bowie) and Precious Kollock (Baltimore, Md./Patapsco) headline the group of returners for Goucher. Huff has been a double-digit scorer in each of her first three seasons, and she was second on the team at 11.6 points per game in 2012-13. Kollock totaled 6.5 points and a team-high 2.2 assists per contest last season.

"When you have young ladies that have been in your program for three years, you expect them to have developed a certain level of experience," Cotton said. "The hope is that they can teach the younger players what to expect in the conference."

Four other guards join the two seniors in a crowded backcourt, including freshman Taje Burston (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central), who is expected to see significant minutes at the point guard position.

"We've got to do a much better job of taking care of the ball," Cotton added. "The players need to be confident in their roles, and just play solid, team basketball. Obviously, we'd love for Sharnell to come out and take over once in a while, but everyone has to share the load."

On the inside, sophomore Amaka Ezeani (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch), who led the team with a 61.9 field goal percentage last year, is among the returners for the Gophers, as is Olivia Nono (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair), who started 10 conference games in 2012-13.

"We feel like we will definitely have an advantage on the inside," Cotton remarked. "We obviously want to get them their fair share of touches, but if it's not there, we can look back to our perimeter. It all goes back to our team ball concept of taking high percentage shots and making sure we get everybody involved."

After participating in McDaniel's tournament, Goucher will host its home opener against Notre Dame (Md.) at 5 p.m. next Wednesday. Overall, the Gophers will have 10 non-conference games, with a conference matchup against Merchant Marine mixed in on Dec. 7, before Landmark play begins in earnest on Jan. 11.

Goucher has made minor improvements to its win/loss total in each of the last two seasons, and Cotton hopes to continue that progress in 2013-14.

"I've always been a firm believer in wanting our pre-conference schedule to prep us for what our conference is going to be like," the ninth-year coach concluded. "The goal is to get better from game-to-game, and if we can accomplish that I think we'll be in a solid position for the start of Landmark play."

The full 2013-14 roster can be viewed here, while the 2013-14 schedule is available here.