By Justin Zackal
It’s easy to anoint the Saint Vincent women’s basketball team the favorite to repeat as Presidents’ Athletic Conference champion in 2019-20. The Bearcats won their first-ever PAC titles last year and they return four starters.
“Just because of what we did last year does not mean anything this year,” said Jimmy Petruska, who enters his 10th year as head coach at Saint Vincent. “It’s tricky because you’ve got all these people back, and I understand that, but it’s a new season and there’s motivation for everyone to compete and everyone (else in the league is) getting better. We don’t expect to go through conference play without being challenged.”
Saint Vincent has been a mainstay competitor in the PAC, advancing to at least the semifinal round of the conference tournament in each of the last eight years. The Bearcats defeated Washington & Jefferson, 70-48, in the finals and Thiel, 76-69, in the semifinals.
Carlee Kilgus, who scored 16 points off the bench in the finals last year and averaged 7.1 points and a team-high 4.1 assists per game on the season, replaced the now graduated Maria Morgan in Saint Vincent’s starting lineup this year. Bearcat returning starters include junior forward Madison Kollar (16.1 ppg), senior guard Kayla Slovenec (8.3 ppg), senior forward Paige Montrose (8.1 ppg), and junior guard Jenna Lafko (6.9 ppg).
Only Kollar’s 16.1 scoring average ranked in the top 20 in the PAC a year ago, as Saint Vincent spreads the contributions around. The Bearcats also have senior guards Taylor Boring (5.9 ppg) and Bri Van Volkenburg (4.6 ppg) returning. The minutes are also distributed with at least 10 players last year averaging more than 10 minutes per game.
“We have five to seven players who can all drop 20 points on any given night,” Petruska said. “We try to play a deep lineup to keep our players fresh throughout the year. Their production per minute and higher efficiency is because they are better rested, versus having three or four players playing 38 minutes a game three nights a week.”
Just how good Saint Vincent will be this year, compared to the top teams in the PAC, will be determined this week. The Bearcats host the two teams picked behind them in the PAC Preseason Poll, W&J on Wednesday and Grove City on Saturday.
“That first week we open with W&J and Grove City; those are two of the top teams in the conference and those are big-time games for everyone,” Petruska said. “It’s going to be an exciting year and we’re looking forward to the challenge. There’s a lot of good coaches and players in the league and we know we’re going to get everyone’s best game each night, and that’s what we expect.”
The following are one-sentence season previews for each team, listed in order of the PAC Preseason Poll with last year’s records in parenthesis:
SAINT VINCENT (23-5, 15-1 PAC)
Four returning starters and a deep bench return for the Bearcats, who won their first PAC title last year and lost to former PAC member and eventual national champion Thomas More in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON (20-9, 13-1 PAC)
The Presidents return three starters, including juniors Alie Seto (13.1 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Lauren Gilbert (13.1 ppg), as they continue to build on their impressive 154-60 record (.720) in PAC games since last winning a league title in 2006.
GROVE CITY (18-12, 10-6 PAC)
High hopes, with first-team all-PAC senior forward Kate Balcom (13.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg) returning, just got higher after the Wolverines started the season 6-0 for the first time since 1982-83.
WESTMINSTER (9-8, 6-10 PAC)
After a sixth-place finish a year ago, the Titans are also trending upward with a 5-0 start to the season behind four returning starters who include senior forward Emily Fromknecht (11.1 ppg, 9.4 rpg).
BETHANY (13-13, 8-8 PAC)
The Bison return three starters, including junior forward Makayla Reynolds (9.1 ppg), as they seek to build on their best record since 2011-12.
CHATHAM (12-14, 8-8 PAC)
Another team off to a hot start, the Cougars won their first five games for the first time in program history despite having just one returning starter, but they have a graduate transfer from Capital University, Emily Ondo, who is averaging 10.2 ppg this year.
WAYNESBURG (8-18, 6-10 PAC)
Junior guard Andrea Orlosky (17.3 ppg), the top returning scorer in the PAC from last year, leads a Yellow Jacket team looking to improve from a seventh-place finish.
THIEL (8-20, 4-12 PAC)
Two PAC tournament upsets lifted the Tomcats from eighth place to the semifinals, but replacing first-team all-PAC Jess Vormelker (19.9 ppg) will be tough.
GENEVA (4-20, 2-14 PAC)
Likewise, the Golden Tornadoes will have to improve without one of the league’s top scorers, as Geneva moves on after Callie Ford (21.5 ppg) graduated.
