By Daniel Paulling
Mount St. Mary’s women’s basketball coach Bryan Whitten provided a player-by-player outlook for his team after Thursday’s Blue and White Scrimmage.
On redshirt junior Sydney Henderson, last year’s leading scorer after suffering a torn ACL her sophomore year: “She’s playing as hard as ever. Defensively, she was a step behind last year. She was our defensive player of the year as a freshman. She can affect the game on the defensive end.”
On sophomore guard Jenn Carney: “I think she’ll be able to get on the floor and be a player that surprises a lot of teams.”
On VCU transfer Jackie Brewer: “She’s going to be successful once she gets back in the swing of things. She’s getting there slowly but surely. She can affect the game with her offense. She had a great summer, solid preseason, just getting used to the system and getting used to everything. She was on scout team (last year) so she didn’t run our stuff.”
On center Rachel Mathews: “I think she’s one of the best centers in the conference. She defends, she improved her offense. We’re expecting a big year for her.”
On guard/forward Kayla Grossett: “Sandra (Andresson) was the only one we really lost from last year, but she wasn’t a huge scorer. Rebounding, defense, everything else she did, we’re hoping Kayla can fill in that role. Looking for her to have a great year.”
On injured guard Ashley Christie, who’s out indefinitely with foot injury: “Losing Ashley hurts a little bit. Averaged about 10 (points) a game last year, a real good player for us, knocked down threes, made plays. Game winner against LIU. Great defender, sets us up well.”
Whitten hopes to have his starting lineup Tuesday in advance of Friday’s game at Maryland. Selina Mann, Henderson and Mathews are set at point guard, shooting guard and center, respectively. Brewer may receive the start along with forward Jessie Kaufman.
