The St. Francis Xavier X-Women basketball program enters a new era as they start the 2014-15 season. After back-to-back Atlantic University Sport (AUS) championship game appearances, this year's X-Women look to reach the finals for a third time with a new mix of players leading the way. Head coach Augy Jones enters his third season without former standouts Vanessa Pickard, Rebecca Sheehan and Lia St Pierre. Thus the focus shifts to their teammates, who must assume a more prominent role in the program.
Leading the way is 6'2" Kolbi Roper from North Vancouver. Kolbi is going into her fourth year and was chosen as an AUS second team all-star in each of the last two seasons. She was named a team captain along with 5'8" local standout Melissa Gottschall and former AUS all-rookie team member 6'0" Lindsay Lessard. Both Melissa and Lindsay spent many off-season hours in the gym preparing for the opportunity to contribute heavily in the success of this year's team. Other returning players who have improved greatly over the off-season include 5'8" Courtney Kilyk, 5'10" Shannon Hatch, 5' 9" Kayla MacIntyre and 5'8" Alana Lawn. A fantastic addition to this veteran group is X-Women rugby all-star 6'1" Emma Taylor who has been working out with the basketball team since last spring.
Last year's rookie class has also worked hard to insure they are ready to contribute more this coming season. 5'9" Megan Thompson and 6'4" Mairead Dunn have looked stronger and more comfortable throughout the pre-season. Unfortunately, last year's X-Women 'Rookie of the Year', 6'1" Kimberley Taylor, suffered an ACL injury during pre-season scrimmages.
This year's group of freshmen are set to make an impact right away. 6'0" Jamellia Clark, 5'5" Samantha Robertson, 5'6" Carolyn Smith and 5'6" Britney Molina make up one of the best rookie classes in the conference. Britney played NCAA basketball last season and will have to sit out the first half of the season. Two first year players were added to the team as 'walk-ons'; 5'7" Jen McTague and 6'2" Delaney Montague both performed well enough in tryouts to garner a place on the X-Women roster.
Coach Jones was excited to welcome Lia St. Pierre back to the program as an assistant coach this season, commenting ""We are all very excited to have Lia return to the program as a coach, leader and mentor. Lia has been a gigantic part of the present X-Women basketball team which is coming off two AUS championship appearances in a row."
"We are so blessed to have her put off a professional basketball career to pursue her BEd degree and become part of our coaching staff. This also benefits the young, female basketball players in the region who will get to have Lia around to connect with for the next two years."
Likewise, St. Pierre is excited for the opportunity, "I am excited to be returning to St FX as a student in the BEd program and as a member of the X-Women basketball coaching staff. Basketball has been a big part of my life and I am looking forward to continuing my involvement with the sport in a coaching capacity. We have a very talented group of girls with which I anticipate a positive and successful upcoming season."
AUS regular season play begins this coming weekend when the X-Women travel to Halifax to face the Saint Mary's Huskies. Game time is 6:00 pm on Saturday night at the Homburg Centre.
Finally, there is added excitement to the 2014-15 season as the AUS championship tournament will take place alongside the men's playoffs in Halifax at The ScotiaBank Centre (formerly The Metro Centre) from February 26 – March 1.