2007-08
Season Preview.....
VETERAN LADY MONARCH SQUAD EXPECTED TO CHALLENGE FOR FREEDOM CONFERENCE
TITLE
WILKES-BARRE --
The King's College women's
basketball team has lofty aspirations as the team comes off a 21-9
season in which the Lady Monarchs were second in the Freedom Conference
Tournament and eventually finished second in the Eastern College
Athletic Conference Southern Region Championships.
Coach Brian Donoghue enters his third year
with the program and returns four players, including three seniors, who
will enter their third seasons as starters, providing the team with
valuable experience as well as a great deal of cohesion.
In fact, King's was selected as the favorite to win the conference
championship in the Freedom Conference Pre-Season Coaches Poll.
Leading
the way for King's is 6-foot senior center Andrea Hochstuhl
(Landenberg/St. Mark's, De.) who enters the 2007-08 season as a
second-team Pre-Season All-American according to D3Hoops.com. Last
season Hochstuhl earned first-team All-Freedom Conference honors after
averaging 14.3 points and 9.8 rebounds with 63 blocked shots while
registering 16 double-doubles (points-rebounds) on the year. Hochstuhl
scored in double-figures in 24 of King's 30 games during the
2006-07season and was named a first-team Mid-Atlantic All-Regional
choice. She was also a three-time Freedom Conference "Player of the
Week". A three-year letter-winner and two-year starter at King's,
Hochstuhl has totaled 756 points, 566 rebounds, and 95 blocked shots.
Following
closely is senior guard Jenna Palumbo (Hazleton/Hazleton Area)
who ranks as one of the deadliest three-point shooters in Middle
Atlantic Conference history. A year ago Palumbo ranked among the
national leaders with a school-record 98 three-pointers and topped
King's with 14.5 points per-game. She was a 2007 second-team All-Freedom
Conference selection. In her three-year career, Palumbo has scored 711
points while draining 170 three-pointers.
King's
third returning starter is dynamic senior point-guard Lauren Kendra (Bellmawr,
NJ/Gloucester Catholic) who averaged 6.0
points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 3.0 steals per-game a year ago. A
year ago, Kendra posted a school single-season record of 180 assists and
is 106 assists away from breaking King's career mark. Kendra is the
player that makes King's go with her non-stop, aggressive style of play
on both ends of the court.
Finally,
junior guard/forward Kaitlyn Fiorino (North
Brunswick, NJ/Immaculata) stands as the
fourth returning starter after netting 13.3 points with 3.3 rebounds
while also ranking among the MAC leaders with 63 three-pointers last
season. Fiorino enter her third year as a starter and has totaled 663
points and 116 three-pointers in two seasons at King's.
Returning players in the back-court include junior Andrea Carroll (Norristown,
PA/Kennedy-Kenrick) who saw time in 27 games at point-guard last
year. Sophomore Jessica Paettie (Drexel Hill/Archbishop
Prendergast) is also back after playing in 30 games as a backup
shooting guard/small forward. Junior guard Julie Bidwell
(Duryea/Pittston Area) is back for her second season after not
playing her freshman year and looks for an increased role now that she
is more familiar with the system.
In the post, King's will rely on the return of sophomores Kaitlyn
Malshefski (Nanticoke/Nanticoke Area) and Krystina Durako (Laflin/Seton
Catholic). Malshefski, who is also two-time all-conference selection
on King's volleyball team, played in 29 games last season with seven
starts. Durako played in 28 contests and started two games.
Five newcomers join the roster who are all hopeful of contributing to
the success of the program.
Sarah O'Doherty (Drexel Hill/Archbishop Prendergast) is a 6-foot
post player who can play either center or power forward and could join
Hochstuhl on the front line starting rotation. Freshman Kristen
Baumes (Hughestown, PA/Pittston Area) is a strong, athletic guard
who can score and should factor into the back-court rotation. Freshman
Elyssa Nieddu (Shenandoah, PA/Cardinal Brennan) will also look to
challenge for time at the guard spot.
A pair of sophomore walk-ons also join the Lady Monarch program.
Katie Doss (Wyalusing/Wyalusing) is another strong, athletic guard
and doubles as a starter on King's playoff qualifying volleyball team.
Fellow sophomore Tabitha Zawatski (Shickshinny/Northwest) also
made the team after not playing her freshman year.
Both players must adjust to not having played since their senior years
of high school.
The Lady Monarchs will face a challenging schedule
with the prestigious season-opening Marymount Tip-Off Classic, as well
as playing in the Caribbean Hoops Showdown in Cancun, Mexico December
20-21. In the event, King's will face defending Division III national
champion DePauw University along with fellow 2007 national qualifier
LaVerne University.
"We are very excited about this season coming off
the year we had last season," Donoghue said. "We have a large portion of
our roster back and this stands as the most experienced group of players
since our current coaching staff came to King's. Having three players
who are three-year starters provides us with an experience factor that
will help us on the court and off. We are also excited about our
schedule and the opportunity to play a number of outstanding
non-conference opponents. The level of competition will provide us with
great exposure as well as helping to prepare us for our Freedom
Conference opponents. We were second in the conference tournament last
year and our goal is to take the natural progression this season and
hopefully win the Freedom Conference title."
