Q & A With Behrend Women's Basketball Coach Roz Fornari
1.
WHAT IS YOUR GENERAL THOUGHT ON HOW THE SEASON HAS STARTED AND WHERE YOUR
TEAM STANDS RIGHT NOW?
I like our players. They work hard everyday and have a great attitude. We all seem to enjoy coming to practice and our focus is just on getting better and being consistent on a daily basis. We have progressed into a solid group. We always want to do better and certainly win but I believe we have learned a lot even in the moments where we weren’t the most successful.
2. WHO IS PERFORMING WELL FOR THE TEAM?
We have a lot of growth going on
right now.
To choose only one or two people would be difficult. Brittany Mays has
really stepped up both as a vocal leader and in her practice and game
play. She is a fierce competitor who inspires people around her. They
simply just don’t want to let her down. Aside from Brittany, I have
enjoyed watching our point guards work together. They compete daily but
really reflect what it is to be a teammate. They want each other to do
well and celebrate together when they are successful. It is a nice
feeling to have such quality people around me. The rest of our team is
stepping up as well. Julia Andrus has had some quality games as well as
defensive stops for us. Vickie Innes has had two career double doubles
this season and we are looking forward to more from her. We are enjoying
the depth at the forward position as Meagan Bielanin has played a
consistent role at the four spot with rebounding and scoring when we
have needed her to.
3. HAS ANYBODY REALLY SURPRISED YOU WITH WHAT
THEY BROUGHT BACK FROM THE OFFSEASON/PRESASON?
I think Julia
Andrus the most. She is more confident in her shot than last season. I
really like her relying more on both aspects of the game with her
ability to drive and now looking to hit the perimeter shot. She is more
well-rounded.
4. WHAT IS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE HEADING INTO
THE SECOND HALF OF THE SEASON AFTER THE SEMESTER ENDS?
I believe staying healthy and
continuing to improve. We need to be dedicated to getting better every
day. Our players understand it and seem to realize that we have a lot of
potential, we just need to be consistent and stay focused.
5. WHAT IS YOUR EXPECTATION FOR THE END OF THE SEASON AND POSTSEASON?
I really believe in this team’s abilities. We have a lot of balance and a lot of weapons. We certainly have more than one player to stop so we have the potential of beating anyone on any night. We are going to be focused on finishing well and getting ourselves to the conference tournament…with our main objective of winning the conference tournament. So, post-season is always a possibility.