County holds court in PSAC women's hoops
SLIPPERY ROCK— Even outside of Slippery Rock University, women's basketball in the PSACWest will have a definite local flavor this winter.
Heather Kearney, a Harrisville native and SRU's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, takes over as head coach at California (Pa.) after serving as associate head coach with the Vulcans for nine seasons.
Butler graduate Amy Achesinski, who averaged 16.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while being named GLIACFreshman of the Year at Mercyhurst last season, enters the conference as a sophomore center for the Lakers.
Rimersburg Union graduate Bethany Koch, a junior guard at Clarion, figures to be in the regular rotation for the Golden Eagles.
California is ranked No. 2 in two polls this preseason: the PSACWest coaches poll, trailing Indiana (Pa.), and the NCAADivision IIpreseason poll, trailing Northern Kentucky.
All five starters are back for the Vulcans, who were 27-7 a year ago.
"The biggest difference for me this year is coaching on both sides of the ball now,"Kearney said. "Darcie (Vincent) was a master of defensive schemes and her system is still in place here."
Vincent took over at Appalachian State during the offseason.
"We've got six players and five were starters last year,"Kearney said. "We've got nine new faces to mesh into things.
"There's a standard to live up to Cal and I'm looking forward to the challenge of maintaining that standard."
California has advanced to the Elite Eight in three of the past six years and "the goal is to get back there again,"Kearney said.Achesinski was part of a youth movement at Mercyhurst last year. The Lakers finished 7-20 and had no seniors on the squad."You can build a program around a player like Amy, and that's what we're doing,"second-year coach Deanna Richard said. "Moving into a new conference will almost seem like a second freshman season to her, but she can succeed in this league."Richard said the PSACwill be "a little more physical" than the GLIAC, but added that Achesinski will be a physically stronger player."She's put her time in with the weight room. She's a very dedicated player,"she added.Gie Parsons enters her 20th year at Clarion needing just two wins for 300 there and 400 in her collegiate career.The Golden Eagles return only two starters from last year's 18-9 team, though one is 1,015-point scorer Katrina Greer. Koch is a 5-foot-9 junior guard."Beth was troubled by a stress fracture last year, but now she's pain-free and you can see the difference,"Parsons said. "She worked all summer on her shot and she's gotten stronger in the weight room."After scoring well over 1,000 points in her high school career, Koch saw action in only 15 games for Clarion last year, averaging 1.7 points, 1.2 rebounds and 7.1 minutes played."That's all going to change this year, but I can't define what her role will be right now,"Parsons said. "I've got eight freshmen and nine new players on this team."I haven't a clue how it's all going to shake out. But I do know Beth will see plenty of time on the court."
