Chapman women’s basketball implements new offensive strategy for new season

With less than a month to prepare for the season, the women’s basketball team is gearing up for an exciting season. Photos by DANIEL PEARSON, staff photographer

Time is ticking for the Chapman women’s basketball team to be ready by Nov. 11. Earlier this month, the team started official practices, and the pressure is on as the squad learns to run a new offense similar to the men’s basketball team.

Fifth year business administration major Julia Strand said that the team had open gym sessions in the summer, but now practices are kicked up 10 notches with coaches, managers and players spectating and bringing the intensity to Harold Hutton Sports Center.

“It’s an offense (where) you have options to whatever the defense is going to give you,” Strand said about the new offensive system. “It’s a read-and-react (offense), so anyone has the ability to score and it gives everyone the option to, which is really nice.”

But while players are anticipating a new offense, head coach Carol Jue prides her team on their tiring defense. They limit their opponent’s time to make plays on offense by applying full court pressure and wearing down opponents with speed.

Goals for the season include improved communication and attention to the smaller details to kickstart success on offense and defense.

Jue said getting players to be communicative and be attentive to the smaller details kickstarts their success on offense and defense.

“Communication and using your voice is a big thing,” Jue said. “If you want to win you have to do all these little things. The wins will come, but you have to do all these things. You have to box out, talk to each other so someone doesn’t get screened or knocked out. You can’t assume, but the more you communicate, the better the team can be.”

The roster last year underwent a complete change, and even with this hurdle, the women’s basketball team paved their way towards a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) quarter finals appearance against Pomona-Pitzer.

“Last year was crazy because in reality, we only had four or five returners,” Strand said. “Everyone is basically a returner this year, which makes it a lot easier. I can see a lot of improvements from last year with a lot of people. Zoe Zurasky is gonna be huge. She’s also a track star, so she’s super quick (and) super fast (on the court).”

Fifth year master’s student Julianna Campas, who is studying health and strategic communication, highlighted a couple starters like junior guard Katie Kubo’s ability to push the ball up the court and senior guard Sammie Inana’s rebounding.

“Overall, our team is returning (most players from last year) so we have a lot of depth this year throughout our entire bench which is extremely important for us,” Campas said. “And because we have such a fast paced defense and offense, it’s nice to be able to rotate through (starters and bench players).”

Having continuity from last year will help especially with the short turnaround to prepare for the season. It’s easy to look ahead and circle games on a schedule, but Jue said that her focus is getting ready for game one of the season.

For Campas and Strand, this year will mean even more to them.

“Our goal is always to win a championship and make it to the NCAA tournament,” Campas said. “And that’s something that Julia and I as fifth years have never experienced. So it’s our last chance to make that happen.”