2001-02 CUNYAC Women's Basketball Preview

Hunter & Staten Island Forced to Look in the Rear-View Mirror

The CUNY Athletic Conference's top four seeds all advanced to the semifinals of 2001 Championships, even though two had very close calls. Staten Island, the defending champ prevailed in the end beating a tough defensive squad in Hunter for the second straight time. Actually, the Dolphins and the Hawks have squared off in the CUNYAC finale for four straight seasons, with Hunter winning the first two. But schools like Lehman, York and CCNY have been inching closer to the top. The 22nd Annual CUNYAC / Con Edison Tournament will be at Hunter College, February 16-22. So is it time for the others? Or will the traditional powers prevail?

   Here's a look at the entire 10-team league, starting with the CUNYAC's South Division.

Two-time champion College of Staten Island (20-8, 10-3) will face many similar challenges that the squad faced a year ago. With no seniors and a very young team head coach Marguerite Gualtieri must blend together a young team that will not have proven veterans to rely upon in a crunch. Last season the Dolphins overcame the loss of two 1,000-point scorers and three 500+ rebounders, due largely to one of the best seasons in school history by Courtney Aimetti (20 points, 10 rebounds), who won CUNY Tournament MVP honors. In order to three-peat, last year's newcomers must play like veterans, while working in the new talent.

Sophomore Pam Barone and junior Keisha Cook, both from Staten Island, are the returning weapons for the Dolphins. A 5'4 guard, Barone is a crowd favorite with with countless scrambles for loose balls and a tendency to go right at the defense leading to her 16 points a game. Cook, a 5'7 forward (10.4 ppg, 9.8 rpg) is an all-around talent that earned CUNY All-Tournament honors in the victorious run last year. The team's captain, junior guard April Nelson (11.4 ppg) is a sharpshooter who drained 64 threes last season.

"I think we'll be even quicker than last year," said Gualtieri, now entering her fourth season. "We enjoy a fast break type of game [they averaged 84 ppg in 2000-01] and we recruit players who can play at that tempo."

The new Dolphins will feature junior transfer Katie Morreale (Staten Island, NY) at the point, freshman Stephanie Iosue (Staten Island, NY) in the backcourt and sophomore Jacclyn Rock (Staten Island, NY) in the frontcourt.

The Cardinals of York College (16-8, 10-3) enjoyed the best season at the Jamaica, Queens school since 1994 with a CUNYAC semifinal appearance and an ECAC Tournament berth. This year head coach Jackie Smith (5th season) will be without the services of her three leading scorers.

Tamara Taylor (Curtis/Staten Island, NY), the reigning CUNYAC Player of the Year, will not play before January due to personal reasons. A 5'9 senior who had 21.4 ppg and 8.4 rpg in 2001, she leaves a huge void yet to be filled in the York lineup. Also out for the first semester is her classmate Garrianne Brown (15 points, 6.5 assists). Only one returning starter is currently on the floor for the Cardinals, 6'1 senior Nicole Perry (Manhattan Center/Bronx, NY), who averaged 6.8 rebounds and a CUNYAC leading 2.8 blocks a year ago. Also returning is 5'9 sophomore Jennise Masseus (Queens, NY). Tushana Watson, a freshman guard from August Martin will pick up some of York's early season scoring.

The three other teams in CUNYAC's South Division will have a difficult time making waves, as Medgar Evers, NY City Tech and Brooklyn are all going through the rebuilding process.

Medgar Evers College (6-21, 2-11) returns two solid players in 5'11 junior center Keisha Toms from Seattle, WA (13.0 ppg, 13.3 rpg), who led CUNYAC in rebounds, along with 5'7 guard Giselle Lake (Wingate/Brooklyn, NY). Lake will definitely improve on her 3.3 points a game as she leads the Cougars' offense. Senior Wonita Persaud (S. Bay / Brooklyn, NY) and freshman Shelly Sarben-Sarpong (Brooklyn, NY) will steady the wings for 8th year head coach Roy Anderson.

New York City Technical College (10-13, 4-9) had the school's best season in Division III, under fifth year head coach Brenda Alexander. The Yellow Jackets have two seasons remaining in their provisional membership to the NCAA, as they moved up from the junior college ranks three seasons ago. Major contributions are expected from junior Iasha Pryor (Brooklyn, NY) and sophomore Nicole Palmer (Brooklyn, NY).

Rounding out the group is Brooklyn College (9-15, 3-10), the only school among CUNYAC's ten programs to feature a new skipper. Erin Flanagan, a 1982 graduate of Manhattan College, takes over for Cynthia Coles, as the Bridges look to get to the next level. Katima Emptage (5.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg), a senior from Brooklyn is the team's only experienced returnee.

On to the North Division where it looks to be much harder to speculate, as CCNY, John Jay and Baruch are all programs on the rise.

For the ninth time in twelve seasons, Hunter College (18-10, 12-1) compiled the best CUNYAC record heading into the Conference Championship, only to fall short in the tournament final for the second straight season. True to form, the Hawks look to be back in the title game, as they return all five starters and seven letterwinners from a year ago, prompting the league coaches to vote them in the top spot (tied with Lehman) in the preseason. Their trademark defense was stellar in 2000-01, as they held opponents to 34% field goal shooting.

Leading the balanced squad is senior forward Shevon Collins (Brooklyn, NY) with 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds. The team's top scorers are the two Jens. Junior Jen Rogers (Brooklyn, NY), a first-time CUNYAC all-star averaged 10.8 points, while sophomore Jen Agosto (Brooklyn, NY) paced the Hawks in scoring with 11.0. Running the offense once again is junior guard Vana Loukissas (Flushing, NY), who averaged 6.5 points and 4.4 assists.

"We're going into the season with confidence," said eighth year Hunter coach Jackee Meadow. "They know what to expect from opponents and each other throughout the season. This year we expect to play more halfcourt offense and go into the low post a little more. We have young players that will fill some roles down low like Tania Blanco (Bronx, NY) and Classic John (New York, NY), who will fill in for [senior center] Melodie Abrook (Lynbrook, NY) in the inside."

Lehman College (23-4, 11-2) finally made the jump last season to the upper echelon of CUNYAC with an outstanding conference record. While making the CUNYAC semifinals for the fourth consecutive season and the ECAC Tournament for the first time, the Lightning led the nation in scoring. Their mark of 93.9 ppg led all Divison III schools in 2000-01. Head coach Eric Harrison has continued to bring in high-caliber talent to the Bronx, having the CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, two years running. Sophomore forward Chanel Kendall (Brooklyn, NY) will continue to be a force, building on her 21.6 points a game. Complimenting Kendall in the frontcourt is fellow all-star Florena Rhodes (Queens, NY) who averaged 15.6 a night. Along with the dynamic duo are the two cornerstones of Harrison's program, seniors Desirae Ross (Queens, NY) and Ivelisse Rosario (Bronx, NY). New faces include freshman Christina Calderon (6'0 center) and Monica Semley (5'5 guard), both from the Bronx.

"This team will not play strictly uptempo this season," said Harrison. "We're going to try and establish a post game for the first time in my four years. It's going to be a fantastic year of CUNYAC women's basketball."

Another team on the rise is City College (10-15, 7-6), coached by Harrison's twin brother Derrick. "This is definitely the best team I've had at CCNY," said the boisterous coach. "We're more confident that ever with the addition of Samantha Halpern. She has the potential to be the best player ever to come through the CUNY Conference."

Halpern, a 6'0 junior forward, who was a Division II junior college All-American last year at Minneapolis Community College, will step right in to the Beavers veteran lineup. She joins junior Lauren Cargill, CUNYAC's Player of the Year as a freshman two years ago, who is on pace to become the leading scorer in CUNY history. The 5'9 forward from Valley Stream, NY has amassed 1,157 points in only two seasons and boast a two-year career average of 22.7 ppg. The CUNY record is 1,830 held by Hillary Williams, a player at Baruch from 1987-91.

Also back for CCNY are sophomores Victoria Rautilia, a 5'3 guard from Sweden and Clarice Bell, a 6'3 center from Long Island City.

Now in his third season as well, John LoSasso, the head coach at John Jay College (11-14, 5-8) finally feels that the pieces are falling into place. "I feel like this is year one. We have seven newcomers and four returning starters. We are going to be deeper than in previous years, we're going to rely on our defense more than ever."

Back for the Bloodhounds are sophomores December Bails (14.4 points), Cherrith Pointer (11.0 rebounds) and Kieran Francis (5.2 points), along with senior captain Naomia Bell (Brooklyn, NY), who averaged 5.6 points a game last year. Promising newcomers include 5'8 Leisel Ann-Amowe (Brooklyn, NY) on the outside and and 5'11 Nichole Young (Brooklyn, NY) on the inside.

Slotted for fifth in the North Division is Baruch College (6-19, 1-12), a team that improved as the season went along last season, as head coach Bob DiNardo's team tripled their win total from season one at the helm.

The Stateswomen will be led again by junior forward Jamees Wright (New York, NY), who led the team in points (13.3) and assists (4.9), while putting up strong numbers on the boards (7.4) and senior guard Evelin Urbaez (New York, NY) who added 7.9 points. Expect Kingsborough Community College graduate, junior Mimoza Kalezic (Brooklyn, NY) to make an immediate impact. Kalezic led CUNYAC's junior circuit with 16 points a game last year.