VERMONT

UVM women's basketball: 5 thoughts on the Catamounts' 2018-19 season

Austin Danforth
Burlington Free Press
The teams listen to the national anthem during the women's basketball game between the American Eagles and the Vermont Catamounts in the first game of the TD Bank Classic at Patrick Gym on Friday.

The bid to launch the University of Vermont women's basketball team back into a competitive orbit, jettisoning the recent string of 20-loss seasons for the 20-win campaigns of yore, begins anew.

 

The unexpected departure of coach Chris Day last spring leaves that daunting task in the hands of interim head coach Alisa Kresge, Day's top assistant the past two years.

Can the Catamounts get back on track? Is this the year they begin trending upward once again? 

That all depends on how the crop of seven veterans and seven rookies navigate the next four-plus months. And without an elixir or a fast-forward button, Kresge said the mind set must remain focused on the present. 

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More:UVM men's basketball: 5 thoughts on the Catamounts' 2018-19 season

"We'll win the drill, we'll win the practice, win the day and rest will follow," said Kresge, Vermont's third coach in four seasons. 

My five thoughts on what to look for when the new season begins Friday against Rider at Patrick Gymnasium: 

Team building, 1-on-1

Catamount forward Hanna Crymble (10) takes the court during player introducitons during the women's basketball game between the Norwich Cadets and the Vermont Catamounts at Patrick Gym on Wednesday night November 15, 2017 in Burlington.

The dynamics of this year's roster — a 50-50 split between returners and newcomers — presented a unique opportunity to build chemistry among the Catamounts. 

A big sister-little sister program.

"Every upperclassman had a freshman to connect with them before they got here," Kresge said. "If they had any questions, if they were having a rough day, they knew they had someone they could go to."

Suddenly the coaching staff ballooned (informally) from four to 11. Each of the freshmen had someone they could approach with questions about college life, college basketball, someone to get coffee or breakfast with, someone to provide encouragement after a rough practice.

"Coaching is an interesting thing. There's days you can get players to respond better than other days," Kresge said. "But to have a teammate who's there in the foxhole with you, when they say something, they usually respond."

Returning pieces

Catamount forward Cassidy Derda (15) shoots a three pointer over American's Elina Koskimies (23) during the women's basketball game between the American Eagles and the Vermont Catamounts in the first game of the TD Bank Classic at Patrick Gym on Friday.

The Catamounts went 8-22 last winter, their eighth straight with 20 losses or more, but they also accomplished something they hadn't since 2013: Landing a player on the America East's all-conference squad.

Hanna Crymble, the versatile 6-foot-3 forward, led UVM in scoring (16.9 ppg) and rebounding (5.6 ppg) as a sophomore to become the program's first all-league honoree since 2013, earning a second-team nod.

Building around the Minnesota native is the obvious starting point this season.

"Our job is to put other players around her that teams are going to have to worry about," Kresge said. "As a staff we talk about how can we get four double-digit scorers — if we have four double-digit scorers, you can't hone in on anybody. If you do, others will show up."

Most of the returning experience is in the post with seniors Candice Wright, Lauren Handy and Cassidy Derda, the former South Burlington and Rice star who is also a 3-point threat. Kresge expects all to contribute on the offensive end.

"They look good, they really do. They worked hard on their weaknesses and their strengths to get better — it's incredible to see them and what they've done so far," Kresge said.

Rookies to have impact

Of Vermont's seven veterans, only one, sophomore Josie Larkins, returns in the backcourt. And that means the newest Catamounts must step up from the start.

"They've got to be out there and playing," Kresge said. "But they all come from backgrounds where they're used to winning and that hate-to-lose mentality."

Vermont huddles together before the start of the women's basketball game between the Norwich Cadets and the Vermont Catamounts at Patrick Gym on Wednesday night November 15, 2017 in Burlington.

Five-foot-10 point guard Rose Caverly, who played high school basketball with Larkins in New Jersey, came in poised to get the keys to the offense from Day 1.

"We knew that the point guard spot was critical for this year so we had to go find somebody that can't be a freshman — there's no time to be a freshman," Kresge said. "The way Rose plays, her mentality, I don't think we could've gotten anyone better."

The other five first-year guards each provide a different wrinkle, according to Kresge. 

Nicole Crum is a shooter from South Carolina, Asha Scott is an athlete with a "downhill mentality" from Washington, D.C., Eva Widmeyer is a high-energy addition from Nova Scotia, 5-foot-11 Sarah Wells has the size to play inside and out, and Sophie Wittenbeck, a walk-on from upstate New York, is dangerous from the perimeter. 

A new system

Catamount forward Hanna Crymble (10) and American's Emily Kinneston (4) battle for the loose ball during the women's basketball game between the American Eagles and the Vermont Catamounts in the first game of the TD Bank Classic at Patrick Gym on Friday.

Under Day, the Catamounts resorted to a defense-first philosophy that kept them in games and delivered signs of improvement. But offense dried up as the season progressed.

Vermont went 3-12 in its final 15 games and managed to crack the 60-point mark just twice.

With a mind to becoming more dynamic this winter, Kresge's staff has focused on getting the Catamounts to read and react to situations rather than defining specific roles on the offensive end. Decision-making and court awareness are paramount as they try to rejig their style of play.

"Every team scouts, they're going to take away things, so how do we counter what they're going to take away?" Kresge said. "That's really what makes a good basketball team, if you can always have a counter (move) for what they take away."

New-look coaching staff

Day's resignation thrust Kresge into the pilot's seat of a program that hasn't logged a 20-win campaign since reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2010. She didn't merely have to forge a team on the court, she had to assemble one on the bench — on the fly — as well.

Assistant coach Dominique Bryant stayed with the staff and has taken over as the recruiting coordinator. Eileen Van Horn joined UVM from Marist, Kresge's alma mater, where she had been director of basketball operations.

And T.J. Sawyer, who coached at St. Michael's College before leading the South Burlington High School girls the last two seasons, was brought on as someone with a homegrown perspective.

"I really wanted someone local, someone who got what Vermont was all about, so when we talk to recruits they understand the passion of why you want to come here, what a special place this is," Kresge said.

Contact Austin Danforth at 651-4851 or edanforth@freepressmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @eadanforth.