McKenna Howenstine|Marlin Chronicle
James Hill|Courtesy
With Fall sports winding down and winter season gearing up, basketball season is coming into full swing. With new seasons come new expectations. The women’s team is looking to turn the tide of their past unsuccessful seasons, where they have only won a total of 10 games in the last two seasons under head coach Quntashea Lewis.
The team decided to part ways with coach Lewis, bringing in head coach Megan Green and assistant coach Mikayla Kinnard. This is Green’s first year as a head coach, serving as an assistant coach at Dickinson College for two years. Kinnard is also fairly new to coaching, serving only as a graduate assistant coach at Longwood University prior to coming to VWU. The team features a new roster as well, with only six returning players, adding eight freshmen and a graduate student transfer.
The team is currently 2-2, so it is still early; however, the team is showing growth in some areas from last season. Their point average is up significantly from 44.4 last year to 59.3 this year. Their rebounding is up from 33.4 to 45.8 per game. Their defense has also improved, increasing their steals to 13 per game as opposed to 8.2 last year and averaging almost 10 more points off opponent turnovers.
Growth in other areas, however, have been stagnant, and in some areas the team has regressed. Their field goal and three point percentages have slightly increased from 31 percent to 34 percent and 20 percent to 21 percent, respectively. They are sharing the ball a bit more with 10.3 assists per game versus 7.2 last year. On the other hand, their free throw percentage sits at .553, down almost 10 percentage points from last year, and they average 4 more turnovers than last year with 24 per game.
Some key players this season include graduate player Keagan Schwabb, who leads the Marlins in scoring with 15.8 points per game and three point shooting with a 36 percent shooting percentage on 7 attempts per game; freshman Jaiden Hunter, the second leading scorer with 11.5 points per game and leading rebounder with 11.5 per game; and freshman Bre Robinson, also averaging 11.5 points per game and leading the team in steals with 3 per game.
Ultimately, the determinant of the Marlin’s success this season will be maintaining the defensive intensity, improving offensive consistency and limiting turnovers and second chance points.
In the first tournament game, the Marlins allowed 18 second chance points, whereas the Avenging Angels limited them to eight second chance points. The Angels also shot significantly more efficiently than the Marlins with a field goal percentage of 45 percent versus the Marlins’ 32 percent. In their second tournament game, although the Marlins edged the Monarchs by one point, they racked up a whopping 33 turnovers, which almost cost them the game. The team also missed a total of 23 free throws in both games, which is significant considering how close the scores were in both games.
The Marlins will be put to the test in conference play, facing some tough teams such as the 2023-24 ODAC champion Washington & Lee and runner-up Shenandoah University, who both made an NCAA Tournament appearance last season. The program only raked in a single conference game win last season, which should not be the case this season so long as they take care of the ball.
Conference play starts up on Nov. 23 against Bridgewater College at 5:30 p.m.
The Virginia Wesleyan Men’s Basketball team is off to a wild start in the 2024-25 season. After defeating Ripon College and the University of Mary Washington, the Marlins won the TowneBank Tipoff Tournament for the second straight year.
The Marlins then played No. 9 Christopher Newport University on Wednesday, Nov. 13, but lost in overtime by a score of 74-72.
After being ranked fourth in the ODAC preseason poll, the Marlins should be in store for another successful season.
The Marlins made the NCAA tournament last year despite losing one of their more prolific scorers, senior Omari DeVeaux. DeVeaux averaged 17 points per game while shooting an elite 49.3% from the field. With DeVeaux returning, the Marlins should receive an impactful boost on both sides of the ball. Senior center Waylo Wilson, who led the team in field goals made and field goal percentage (56.1%), is returning to the team as well. Wilson was a dominant big for the Marlins last season, accounting for nearly half of the team’s blocks with 40 of the team’s 98.
After finishing with a record of 9-7 in conference play last year, the Marlins should finish with a slightly better conference record to end this season at 10-6 with key wins coming against Guilford College and Randolph-Macon College, whom the Marlins will see twice this season.
It will be tough for the Marlins to win the ODAC conference, but it is definitely a realistic possibility, and I believe that regardless of winning the ODAC conference or not they will get a bid to play in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season after missing the last eight years prior.
The ODAC is full of playoff contenders with Hampden-Sydney College and Guilford College both making the Final Four last season as Hampden-Sydney defeated Guilford and lost in the National Championship game to Trine University. Randolph-Macon College also competed in the NCAA tournament losing in the Sweet 16 to Calvin University.
The Marlins did defeat Guilford College in one of their two meetings last season, so the team does have what it takes to make a good run this season considering they have only improved.
The main test is if the Marlins can top Hampden-Sydney College in their only regular season match against the Tigers. They lost all three matches to them last year, including in the ODAC playoffs.
The Marlins do have the right guy to lead them in head Men’s Basketball coach Dave Macedo, who is entering his 25 season with the Marlins and has a National Championship victory under his belt back in 2006. Macedo has also been a part of three separate appearances in the NCAA Final Four . He has an unbelievable record as head of 488-184 along with a 283-104 record in the ODAC conference and is widely considered one of the most successful coaches in the state of Virginia.
By: Coy Camiscioli
