Last season, the lady jackets fell short of expectations. Six wins and 19 losses, with a 7th ranked offense and 8th ranked defense in the President’s Athletic Conference does not win championships. Within those numbers and rankings, there were sparks on this team that showed flashes of greatness. Those sparks are now Sophomores and Juniors. 

“Leadership will fall on both the Juniors and Sophomores, but I’m more than confident that they have the capabilities to boost the team to where we need to be,” said Head Coach Sam Jones. 

Jones, entering his 17th season as leader of the helm for women’s basketball, spoke greatly of the expectations for the team this season.

“We have to start the season with wins. 2-2, 3-1, and 4-0 are not completely out of the question for us, but we have to win early going into conference play.” Jones emphasized early on into the interview. Jones also mentioned the defensive struggles, along with the rebounding troubles last season. 

Within the PAC, Waynesburg was 7th in defensive rebounds in the 23’-24’ season, averaging 28.9 a game. Four less than leaders Washington and Jefferson. They were also 6th in blocked shots, and 7th in steals, over 200 steals less than Chatham who led the conference in that statistic.

Sophomore shooting guard Mia Henkins had some thoughts on the team’s defensive abilities saying, “We definitely struggled with rebounds and that, but I want to see us be more aggressive on defense. Like help each other out more rather than be ‘man on man’. I like the 1-3-1 zone the best, more aggressive.” 

Henkins is more than confident in the team’s leadership roles, especially for her class. So Waynesburg fans should expect more on-court vocal prowess from the young stars, both Junior and Sophomore. Team chemistry is the key to success, and coach Jones is happy to report that, “The chemistry looks great from what I’ve seen.”

Confidence is another factor in a team’s success. With the way they started last year, 0-3 before conference play and 0-9 after, there was no doubt the team lacked that confidence to perform at their best. Both Henkins and Jones brought up the Muskingum season opener last year as a heartbreaking loss, being defeated 63-51 at home. Another game that was brought up, was the first matchup against Chatham ending in a 58-49 loss also at home.

With Chatham being one of the best in the conference last year, that was a win coach Jones really wanted to have, and one he thought the team needed to win. The team was outscored 21-3 in the 3rd quarter of that game, and seen as the dagger that struck to end it. 

Waynesburg was outscored in the 1st and 3rd quarters statistically per game. Consistency was a final key point from both Jones and Henkins. 

The team needs young leadership, confidence, and consistency to have the season that they’ve needed for 7 years now. Their last winning season came in 2017-18, but this season could be the one to end the doubts, if all of the pieces are finally connected.