By Lisa Byers
November 18, 2009 — Kate Costanzo did her work during the offseason and brought in a class of eight freshmen she feels confident have the tools to launch the Allegheny women’s basketball team to the next level.
The only real concern Costanzo had entering her third year as the Lady Gators’ head coach was finding someone to fill the voids left by the graduation of team leaders Stephanie Wolf and Hilary Collins. She needed someone to step up and be the encouragement the young players needed, and she was hoping that someone would be senior Emilie Simone.
Ask and you shall receive.
Simone, a two-time all-North Coast Athletic Conference pick, has made it her mission to pick up right where Wolf and Collins left off. And on Tuesday, the 5-foot-9 forward/center did just that, scoring a team-high 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds to lead Allegheny to a 61-49 season-opening win over Grove City at the David V. Wise Center.
“Ever since the end of last year we knew she was going to have to step up into that role,” Costanzo said. “We were kind of worried, hoping she would realize she’s a senior and four-year player and she needed to step up. She has and has done a tremendous job being a leader at practice and pushing the younger players.
“She showed it (last night) with a consistent performance.”
For Simone, she was just performing exactly what she was taught the first three years of her career by her good friends, Wolf, Collins and fellow 2009 graduate Jessica Morelli. She will admit, though, it’s quite a different feeling than she has been used to her previous three years.
“It is really weird,” she said. “I always looked up to Hilary and Steph and Jess from last year. They were my best friends. Steph was the one I looked up to the most. To even hold a candle to her would make my year.”
Costanzo was most looking forward to Simone’s leadership in helping to develop a freshmen class she feels will see a significant amount of playing time this season. Last night, three of those eight players played a role in the Gators’ win, including starting forward Heidi Goeller. Ann Ryan and Daryl Ford also saw key minutes, and they won’t likely be the last.
It’s definitely one of the positives the Gators left with following last night’s win.
“The thing is there is so much raw talent there,” Simone said. “Every single one of the freshmen are so talented. We have one starting. Two or three got in there (last night). They’re all looking good and nothing can help their confidence more than by getting in there and playing.”
Allegheny and Grove City both made the typical first-game mistakes, but for the Gators those mistakes were magnified early as they struggled to take the lead. Allegheny, in fact, didn’t grab its first lead until nearly 15 minutes into the first half. The Gators took that lead (17-16) on a layup by Goeller, her second bucket of the game.
Grove City retook the lead twice over the next two minutes, but a bucket by Simone with 2:27 left to play in the first half put the Gators up 23-22 and they never trailed after that.
“We started the season off with a win,” Costanzo said. “It doesn’t get any better than that. Our effort was there. We saw a lot of first-game mistakes, too many turnovers, too many missed box outs. But our second half was much better than our first and to see that improvement is the kind of thing we were looking for.
“It’s in the books; it’s a win. Now we move onto Friday’s game.”
The Gators return home on Friday for the first night of the Allegheny Classic. Allegheny will take on Pitt-Greensburg at 7 p.m. The Classic continues on Sunday for the Gators when they will face Westfield State at 2 p.m. at the Wise Center.
In addition to Simone’s big night, Jill Gregory and Laura Magnelli were also solid in the their season debuts. Gregory had 13 points, while Magnelli finished with 12. Lauren Donahoe chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.
For Grove City (0-1), Christine Slater had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Krista Beechy added six points and nine rebounds. Laura Miller had 10 points.
