Photo by: Michael Furman
With the second best shooting percentage in the nation, the women’s basketball team was able to finish with a SBC conference record of 12-6, which was a two game improvement compared to last season when they finished 10-8.
“We create shots for others,” said head coach Erik Johnson.
The Pioneers (18-13) trailed only undefeated No. 1 Connecticut in shooting percentage and the Huskies have not lost a game all season.
With the improved conference record, DU earned the No. 4 seed in the SBC conference tournament.
In their first-round game game, they advanced with a 69-57 win over Louisiana-Monroe where they dominated the glass, out rebounding the Warhawks 42-24.
Kaetlyn Murdoch had a double-double with 20 points and 15 rebounds while Britteni Rice also added 20 points to help the Pioneers advance.
However in the second round the Pioneers shot a horrendous 28 percent from the field, hitting just 14 of 50 shots in a 55-48 loss to New Orleans.
Another problem other than shooting, which plagued the Pioneers against the Privateers was depth.
“We finished the season with seven players,” said Johnson, “We turned a lot of heads walking into the conference tournament in our last few games with only two players and four coaches on the bench.”
The Pioneers were able to reach the successful level they did because of their top players, who played consistent throughout the long season, which required a lot out of them.
Top players include, First Team All SBC selections sophomore Kaetyln Murdoch and junior Britteni Rice.
According to Johnson, the coaches sometimes had to cancel practice because players were tired.
The teams five starters often averaged over 30 minutes a night between them.
“Depth hurt us in some games,” said Johnson. “Because of our depth we could not afford our top players to have an off night.”
Although DU loses only one starter going into next season, they will have to replace one of their strongest rebounders in Ashly Robinson, who averaged 7.7 rebounds a night.
“We have a really good freshman class coming in to fill Ashly’s shoes,” Johnson said.
The Pioneers two other starters were also key to their improvement this past season.
Junior Brianna Culberson, a finalist for the 2010 Jimmy V Foundation Comeback Award, and freshman guard Emiko Smith, who led the team in assists, played in and started every game this season for the Pioneers.
“I’m not sure if we are even a .500 team without Emiko Smith,” Johnson said of his point guard. “With more depth next season we will have a much better transition team.”
An important factor to the teams success was their ability to play anywhere at any time, according to Johnson.
The team finished with a 6-3 road record in SBC play, the same record they had at Magness Arena.
“We did not care if we played in Costa Rica or Antarctica, we just played,” said Coach Johnson.
Even with the upsetting lose in their second postseason game, there are still a lot of positives for the Pioneers looking back on the season.
They had two of the conferences best players in Murdoch and Rice, who both battled injuries throughout the season. Rice even missed several mid season games.
In addition to the success of their veterans, the Pioneers got significant contribution from two key freshman in Smith and forward Sarah Feeney, who played in 30 of 31 games.
“It was one of those seasons where we had to deal with a lot of adversity,” said Johnson.
Even with the adversity of a limited bench and worn out starters, the Pioneers were still able to improve, which they intend to continue to do looking forward to next season.
