Asbury women collect first two wins at home

I have to admit, I didn’t have high expectations about my first look at the women’s basketball team heading into last weekend’s Asbury College Classic, especially after seeing that the Eagles lost their first two games by a combined score of 42 points against the two teams that were coming into Wilmore for the invitational.

Consider my expecations raised. From what I saw in the home-opening Classic, this freshman class is significantly better than advertised, and senior Anna Stephenson has quietly become one of the top players in the KIAC. Now that Head Coach Bart Flener has had an entire offseason to work and has brought in some players that he’s recruited, this should be a much-improved team from the one we saw knock off Alice Lloyd in last year’s conference tournament before running into the freight train that was Midway College.

Asbury turned the tables on the University of Virginia-Wise and Bluefield College, the two teams that sent the Eagles to an 0-2 record to open the season. The Cavaliers had been particularly brutal to the ladies, beating Asbury 73-44, and Bluefield handed out a 78-65 loss in Bluefield, Virginia. But the Eagles strung together two solid games once they got home, beating the Cavs 84-69 in a 44-point turnaround, and Bluefield 75-70 in overtime.

As far as the freshman class goes, it didn’t disappoint. Three freshmen started, shooting guard Hanna Blankenship, small forward Courtney Albin and point guart Christy Gemmell, along with sophomore Brooke Jensen and the all-conference senior Anna Stephenson. Another freshman, guard Ellen Gray, will most likely be Flener’s sixth man this season.

Courtney Albin impressed me the most, especially against Bluefield when she filled up the scorebook with 12 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and six steals. She gets to the basket extremely well, just needs to work on finishing at the rim. She drew a lot of fouls, going 10-for-14 from the free throw line in the two games, but she was just 6-for-21 from the field.

Christy Gemmell is a high-octane point guard who Flener believes will make a huge impact once she learns to pace herself a little bit. You can tell in high school she was used to beating everybody down the floor as soon as she touched the ball — won’t be that easy in college. She had more turnovers (24) than points (22) over the weekend, but she’s not losing her spot anytime soon. Flener is content with putting her through a trial by fire and learning on the fly. She does run the offense well.

Hanna Blankenship is a hard-nosed guard as well who does a nice job creating her own shot. Unfortunately for Asbury, most of those shots haven’t gone in so far this year. She did go 5-for-8 against UVA-Wise Friday, but she is 3-for-24 in the other three games. She’s got a nice, pure form, though, so it should be a matter of time before those start to fall. She picked up six assists against the Lady Cavs.

Ellen Gray came in with the reputation of being one-dimensional, a 3-point shooter and that’s all. Well she’s definitely a 3-point shooter. She exploded with a 19-point second half against UVA-Wise, knocking down all five of her 3-point attempts in the period. She followed that up with a 5-for-6 effort from the 3-point line against Bluefield en route to a team-high 20 points. Do the math — she’s hit 10 of her last 11 3-pointers. The surprise was her defense and her drive. Twice, instead of backpedaling down the court after a trey, she jumped in and stole the inbounds pass, getting the easy layup in what were essentially five-point possessions for the Eagles. She’s going to be a fun player to watch.

As far as the returning players go, Stephenson, junior Sarah Yates, sophomore Ali Smith and sophomore Brooke Jensen are really the only four who get significant time.

Anna Stephenson should have a career year, especially now that defenses can’t concentrate on only her. She’s the undisputed floor leader and easily the most consistent player Asbury has. Her points and rebounds lines through the first four games have been: 12 and 8 at UVA-Wise, 18 and 16 at Bluefield, 18 and 9 against UVA-Wise this weekend and then 10 and 12 the second time against Bluefield. Those are numbers that you will see nearly every game from her, as long as she stays out of foul trouble. As we saw the last two years, though, she is liable to break out for 30+ points and 20+ rebounds in any given game. She will have a strong case for KIAC Player of the Year.

Sarah Yates is going to be the one who sees her minutes drop significantly from last year. She played out of position at point guard her freshman year and moved over to shooting guard with Lauren Lee playing the point last season. This year, Lee is gone via transfer, but the depth at shooting guard means Yates will come off the bench for the Eagles. She will be a big spark as a sub, though, as she is also an excellent leader and a high-energy player. Her ball-handling skills still need some work, but she has a great mid-range jump shot that will make her valuable when the ball isn’t falling for her teammates.

Ali Smith is that player that every coach says they wish they had five of. She spends nearly as much time on the ground diving for balls and taking charges as she does on her feet jumping passing lanes and fighting for rebounds. That gung-ho style is feast or famine, though, as she will drive Flener crazy some games when she isn’t getting the steals and rebounds. She’s another big energy spark, though, that is so critical to a team’s chemistry.

Brooke Jensen is another big body on a team that is pretty thin in the frontcourt. She is a defensive specialist, as her post moves are not yet at the level where she will get too many baskets down there in college. She will be an important asset against the conference inside players. Expect to see her improve significantly under Flener’s direction.

That’s what I gathered from my first glance at this year’s squad. Much like the men’s team, the guard play will be the most important facet of its game, but unlike in the men’s case, the women have Stephenson who will keep defenses honest and can take over a game if need be. The next opportunity to see them will be Dec. 5-6 in the Rita Pritchett Classic.

Bart Flener doing his best Jon Gruden impression. He wasn't actually mad, he was just trying to be louder because he was losing his voice after back-to-back games. I just found it funny.