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The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods women's basketball team begin the home schedule with a matchup against Simmons College of Kentucky on Thursday with tipoff set for 5:00 pm. The Pomeroys are coming into the matchup 1-0 on the season after defeating Great Lakes Christian College 75-51 this past Saturday. The Pomeroys are a very young team with five freshmen and seven sophomores on a roster of just 15 players. The team will look to rely on the senior leaders and captains on the team to help guide the team along with the coaching staff.
One of those captains leading the team this season is senior forward Avalee Jeffers. The Cory, IN, Clay City high school, native was a captain for the team last year and loves getting the chance to be a captain again this season with the challenge of also being coach by a whole new coaching staff this season. "With the new coaching staff, the captains have tried to listen to what the coach says and replicate that to the new group coming in," she said "Overall, this group of girls are awesome, and I love being their captain! They make my captain duties very easy!"
The Pomeroys are also dealing with a new coaching staff on top of all young players, but Jeffers believes that the transition from the previous staff to the new staff has been good overall. "The new coaching staff have made the transition very smooth," she said, "Since we have many new players, and many returners that are always eager to learn and work hard, the transition has been very easy!"
The returning players have continued to be a key for the team while building a positive culture that Jeffers knows the new coaching staff will continue to build that positive culture. "I know the returners worked hard to create a positive culture for the women's basketball team during the last two years," she said, "With the new coaching staff that positive, accountable, and hardworking culture continues to be implemented!"
Jeffers says the team has expectations going into this season and thinks the team can finish better than what they did a season ago. "We would like to build on our successes from last year and make an impression in the River States Conference," she said, "We finished .500 last year, so finishing with a winning record and placing higher in the conference are just a few of the goals we have!"