Oct. 3, 2011

Chestnut Hill, MA - First Day Of Practice

The Boston College women's basketball team took to the floor for the first official practice of the 2011-12 season. The Eagles started the day at 4 p.m. in Power Gym.

There are four new faces on the Eagles roster and staff this season. The team welcomes assistant coach Timothy Eatman along with freshmen Kat Cooper, Victoria Lesko, Joy Caracciolo and Deidra Smith.

In the first official practice the Eagles worked on defensive schemes as well as rebounding, along with a competitive three-on-three game. Towards the end of practice the team also worked on some down-the-stretch situations.

This season will also be the first time fans will see transfer students Alyssa Fressle and Tessah Holt in action. The two arrived at Boston College in the summer of 2010 and had to sit out the season. Fressle played two season at Colorado and was a Big 12 All-Freshman team member, while Holt played one season at Florida.

With the departure of Carolyn Swords, Stefanie Murphy and Jaclyn Thoman the only returners to the starting team are junior Kerri Shields and sophomore Kristen Doherty. Shields led the team in minutes played and three-pointers made. She averaged 11 points per game last season.

Doherty was second on the team in minutes played and led the team in steals with 68. She was also second on the team in assists (106) and averaged 9.0 points per game.

Also returning for the Eagles is center Katie Zenevitch who averaged 4.7 points and 3.8 rebounds a game backing up both Swords and Murphy. Forward Korina Chapman is expected to see more time as the sophomore supplied great energy off the bench last season. She averaged 12.3 minutes a game and 3.3 points per game.

Another key returner is Shayra Brown. She played in 32 games, while averaging 14.4 minutes per game. New Hampshire native Tiffany Ruffin returns at the point as she backed up Thoman most of the season. Ruffin averaged 14.3 minutes per game and had 75 assists in 33 games played.

Team Notes:

Coach Sylvia Crawley conducted chapel for the football team prior to the Wake Forest game this past Saturday ... Walk-on Marissa Mello will join the team after the women's soccer team season is over. Mello is a midfielder for the women's soccer team and is the only senior on the women's basketball roster this season ... Those fans interested in following Carolyn Swords over the winter can find her playing for Juventud Mariana in Soller, Spain. Jaclyn Thoman has landed in Langen, Germany playing for Rhein-Main Baskets, while Stefanie Murphy is with Pecs-2010 in Pecs, Hungary ... Other alums playing overseas include Aja Parham in Spain and Brooke Queenan in Turkey ... The team will open the season on Friday, November 11 against Fairleigh-Dickinson at 11 a.m. Contact the ticket office to order your season tickets or single game tickets.