For Siena women, it's back to square one

LOUDONVILLE — For once, it wasn’t a matter of a coach

protecting information to claim not to know what the starting lineup would be.

As of Tuesday, Siena’s women’s coach Gina Castelli still wasn’t quite sure who would be out there for the opening tap when the Saints open the 2008-09 season tonight at 7 at Alumni Recreation Center against Syracuse.

That’s a measure of how much turnover has occurred in Siena’s roster since last season, when the Saints went 11-18 overall and 7-11 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.

In losing Laura Menty, Melissa Manzer and Liga Alpe-Luka, who graduated, and Shondaya Burrell, who left school in the wake of a suspension for an undisclosed violation of college policy three weeks ago, the Saints will be without players who scored 80 percent of their points last season and each averaged over 32 minutes a game.

Under the circumstances, Castelli is upbeat about her team, which was picked to finish seventh in the MAAC by conference coaches and will need some time to establish an identity, but has been bolstered by two junior college transfers.

“We probably had as many newcomers as we’ve had any given year, but in terms of people coming back in the same roles, this is a whole new team and it’s the first time ever that we’ve said that,” Castelli said. “It’s like having a newborn, you have to be kind of gentle in the beginning and then toughen up as time goes on. When you have a more experienced team, you’re tough right away. We’ve been very positive, but they’ve also been easy to coach. The willingness to change and make corrections, those things make coaching so much easier.”

Menty was an All-MAAC first-teamer two years in a row, and Burrell was a third-teamer who was expected to contribute in all phases of the game this season.

Of Siena’s 64.0 points per game last season, Menty, Burrell, Manzer and Alpe-Luka accounted for 49.7, and the Saints will be without players who made 100 of their 116 (86 percent) three-pointers, including Manzer’s 71-for-196.

Despite the personnel losses, Castelli believes the Saints won’t suffer for lack of scorers.

Allie Lindemann, a transfer from Kirkwood (Iowa) Community College, made 94 three-pointers, at a 43.1 percent clip, last season, and the other juco transfer, Charlieann Chacon of Mesa (Ariz.) CC, is expected to get plenty of time at the point as soon as she’s fully recovered from a knee injury.

Senior captain Heather Stec, a 6-foot-2 forward who missed the first 10 games last season with a broken foot, will also be called on to increase her 7.5 ppg average and has been working on becoming a more versatile scorer. She was Siena’s leading rebounder last season at 8.6 rpg.

“If they have an open look, they’re going to take them, so you might see a little more of that this year,” Castelli said. “Everybody has the green light to score, basically. We have so many new players, that for me to say who we’re going to go to, I’m learning, too, and it’s been really nice to see that we have multiple scorers.”

The Saints will need them, without Burrell, who averaged 13.9 ppg and 6.2 rpg and was second on the team behind Alpe-Luka in assists with 103.

“I think we have a really good group coming in, and our returning players have improved,” Castelli said during MAAC media day on Oct. 28. “Everyone coming in offers something unique. Shondaya was a special player, and to say we have someone to replace her, that’s hard to say right now.”

Along with Lindemann and Chacon, Siena has three freshmen on the roster, guard Brittany Wilwohl from Erie, Pa., 5-8 guard-forward Cristina Centeno from Belleville, N.J., and 5-11 Maja Gerlyng of Denmark.

Besides all the new faces, another twist for the Saints likely will be a more fast-paced style of play.

That’s fine with Stec, who will be a more prominent voice in the locker room as captain.

“Our team has a great amount of potential,” she said. “Seeing them run some of the presses and defenses that we have, we could be a really great team. We really like to pressure the ball and play a fast tempo. That’s going to be our type of game this year, looking to push the ball, looking to run.

“I love running up the floor, so it’s great to have people who are looking to push the ball up instead of slowing it down. Quick, fast pace.”

Castelli points to Stec as an example all the Saints can follow.

Judging from the way the team has been willing to listen, change and work on new things, Stec’s dedication has been rubbing off.

“If you can’t learn from her about work ethic, you’re really not going to learn from anybody else, she really gives it her all everyday,” Castelli said. “I can’t say enough about the effort the team’s made. It’s going to take a little while for us to gel, but from what I’ve seen, I just like the competitiveness we’ve been showing.”

“It’s going to be a lot more spread out,” Stec said. “We lost the three biggest scorers, but it’ll be a lot more even. I think the bench is going to provide a lot.

“I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s such a different feel to it this year. Just having a whole different chemistry, maybe we got stuck in old patterns, with the same team the past four years, but with all new people, it’s just a different chemistry, a different feel.”

The Saints have their work cut out for them in the season opener.

Syracuse has four starters back from a team that was 22-9 last year, including a 78-59 win over Siena, as head coach Quentin Hillsman earned Big East co-coach of the year.

The Orange bench has a strong Siena flavor, as Hillsman and associate coach Matt Luneau were on Castelli’s staff and assistant Mary McKissack-Gromes played on the 2001 team that won the MAAC Tournament and went to the NCAA’s.

The Syracuse game will also have some special significance for Stec. Her second game back from injury last year was against the Orange.

“I played terrible, but that’s because I was just trying to get back into it,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it, the whole team is, really.

“We know that they’re a fast, up-tempo team, and we just have to be physical and give it 100 percent. I’ve been telling the girls there’s no time to slack. Every offensive and defensive possession counts.”

Siena will open the MAAC season the first week in December with the annual western New York swing to Canisius and Niagara, then they’ll head to Los Angeles to play Harvard and Duke in the Women of Troy Basketball Classic.