Lady Cougars Shooting for Another Winning Season

The UC Clermont College women’s basketball team faces a tall task to have a better season than the stellar 2015-2016 campaign that saw the Cougars make the national tournament and advance to the Final Four. However, head coach Rick Hosea has plenty of talent on his roster.

Hosea takes over the top position in the program after serving as an assistant coach for the last nine years. The Cougars face the challenge of replacing three starters and five of their top eight players from last season, but Hosea is confident in his newcomers. Clermont welcomes five first-year students to the roster along with two talented transfers.

“Defense is something that grows with experience, and we’ve got seven new people, so it’ll take us a little while to gel,” he said. “We’re going to rely on some freshmen so we’ll need to get them all on the same page, and then I think we’ll be pretty good.”

Defense was the key for the Cougars last season. Hosea points to a pair of games against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College as a marker of team’s defensive improvement last season. They surrendered 113 points in the first game, and only 70 in the rematch later in the season. By the time the Cougars were in the national tournament, they had evolved into one of the best defensive teams in the country.

Offense, however, can be a problem at times for Clermont. “The last couple years our teams have gone through some periods of time where we didn’t score,” Hosea said. “I think this team overall has the potential to be a better shooting team, and that’s one of our main goals this year.”

Clermont does have some outstanding returning talent, including senior forward Kelsey Finn who plays her best in big games, Hosea said, proven when she made the all-tournament team at nationals last season. And 5-foot-10 inch junior center Arica Stutz is a returning second-team All-American. Her athleticism helps her in the post, according to Hosea.

“Arica is a very tough match-up for other teams because she is so fast,” he said. “She was a high jumper and hurdler, so when you have her as your center, it’s a tough match-up for slower girls.”

Clermont also returns their sixth-man from last year, junior Brittany Freson, who is also one of the top players from UC Clermont’s softball team.

“I think she’s going to blossom this year and be a very nice player for us. She has wonderful athleticism and great speed,” Hosea said.

Clermont has rivalry games this season against Miami Middletown on Jan. 16 and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on Jan. 12, among others. Overall, Hosea said he might have another special team on his hands this season.

“I think we have the potential to be pretty good,” he said. “If we get good enough to make the National Tournament, I'm going to like our odds once we get there.”

The UC Clermont Lady Cougars kick off their season at home on Wednesday, Nov. 2 against Edison State Community College.

For more information about the basketball team visit:

http://www.ucclermont.edu/athletics/WomensBasketball.html

UC Clermont Athletics includes Women's Volleyball, Men's & Women's Soccer,  Men’s and Women’s Basketball, Baseball and Softball. The UC Clermont Cougars participate in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA). The Cougars have been successful in bringing home national championship titles in men’s and women’s basketball and baseball. In addition, the volleyball and softball programs have been ranked nationally and have been highly competitive in national tournament play.