The Sinclair Tartan Pride women’s basketball team had a rocky start to the 2012-13 season, having to cancel a handful of games due to not having enough players to compete.
“We started off the year with people who we thought would be eligible, but ended up not being eligible and that lowered our numbers,” Head Coach Jeff Dillon said. “We started off the year with six people and then we had two get hurt, so we had to cancel some games which was really rough. But now we’ve kind of settled on the group we have and it’s just a night and day difference.”
As the team sits at 2-4 overall and 0-2 in Ohio Community College Athletic Conference play, Dillon said the team is to the point where he expects them to be ready to compete in every remaining game.
Dillon said he took it upon himself to roam the halls of Sinclair to find a few players he could add as walk-ons during winter break. Those players have done an adequate job so far as members of the Pride.
Dillon said he is finding it harder and harder to secure female athletes who’ll commit to play college basketball at the Junior College level.
He said he is doing everything he can to make sure he fulfills his number one goal for the season, which is to build depth for next season.
The coach said he is happy to finally have a post presence (forward Lianna Innocent) inside for his offense, which has driven him to alter his offense to a more slowed pace, focused on trying to hammer away at teams on the low-blocks and getting higher percentage shots.
“Finally for the first time in years, we’ve got a big that we can throw it into and score,” Dillon said.
In years past, Dillon’s offense has been a “get it out of the net and up the court,” style of play, mirroring the men’s style of quick transition basketball.
Sophomore forward Riley Weng is the team’s leading scorer so far, averaging 13.2 points per game, according to OCCAC statistics.
Dillon said he hopes his team can finish with a good enough conference record to finish with at least one of the top four seeds for the end of season NJCAA District XII Tournament. A 1-4th place finish will give the Tartan Pride a home game for the tournament.
The Pride dropped their second OCCAC game on Jan. 19 to Columbus State Community College by the score of 61-65. The Pride shot 41.4 percent from the floor, turning the ball over 22 times.
The Pride will take the home court next against Cincinnati State Community College on Jan. 30 at 5:30 in Sinclair’s gymnasium, located in Building 8.