Still without a loss in conference play, times are good for the women’s basketball team. Winning makes the game more fun, but for this team, the light atmosphere can be traced back to the beginning of the season, when the win-loss record was still 0–0.

By just watching a practice or a game, any bystander can tell these athletes are having a good time — something usually missing on a college basketball court. While enjoying themselves, the team is keeping its integrity intact, along with its sparkling record of 15–4.

“This team is definitely a unique one,” senior guard Katherine Bixby said. “It’s one of the first teams that I’ve ever been on that can goof around, but then get down to business in practice and in games.”

It is a skill that not many teams are successful at, as most have to choose between work and play.

“The balance between us doing stuff that is fun and that makes us work hard is what makes us successful on the court,” junior forward Jane DeBiasse said.

Sometimes it is a fast break drill. Other times it is a one-on-two rebounding drill. Head Coach Dan Raymond is keeping every practice interesting by mixing up drills, while keeping his sense of humor intact.

“We work with different people every day,” Bixby said. “So it’s not always the same five against the same five, or the same two against the same two.”

Raymond refuses to take all of the credit for his team’s ability to have fun, though.

“The one thing I have to attribute to all of this is all of the extra help that I’ve had this year, from [Assistant Coaches] Matt Dorn to Manny Delgado and Jessica Leonard,” Raymond said. “That makes a huge difference, because they are hearing more than one voice. It’s easier for [the players] to grasp what we are trying to accomplish.”

Since the start of the year, Dorn has worked with the athletes on their strength and conditioning, while Delgado and Leonard have aided in the mental aspect of the game. The athletes recognize the benefit of hearing their new assistant coaches’ voices in both the physical and mental aspects of the game.

“It’s really nice to hear echoes of what coach has said coming from other people, which really reinforces what he says,” DeBiasse said. “When the message is coming from several different people with different perspectives, it really drives it home.”

Instead of tuning voices out after a few weeks, these athletes are treated to different names and faces, which DeBiasse said keeps every day fresh and even exciting.

The atmosphere is also helping the newcomers, who constitute more than half the team, avoid the pressure and intimidation that come with college basketball. Raymond said it is making every individual more approachable, meaning rifts between seniors and freshmen do not exist.

The camaraderie allows those young players to feel less pressure, giving the team more depth and better competition in practice. When the Blue and Gold feel that comfortable, the players enjoy the game a lot more.

“I give a lot of credit to the upperclassmen,” Raymond said. “As far as them becoming teachers, they had to teach all of these first-year kids what it is to be a college athlete. The leadership they’ve shown has resulted in the success we’ve had.”

 

Box Score - Ithaca vs RIT (01/31/10 at Clark Gym; Rochester, N.Y.)