Women's Basketball News

2007-08 SEASON PREVIEW

Four starters are back for head coach Laura Hogan and the Delaware Valley College women's basketball team as the Aggies look to improve on last year's 11-13 record (7-7 in Freedom Conference) and return to the conference playoffs for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.

The conference will have a new look to it this year as perennial national power The University of Scranton has departed along with 2006-07 playoff qualifier Drew University and Lycoming College. Arcadia University and Manhattanville College have joined the Freedom Conference.

Heading the cast of returness is the backcourt tandem of seniors Moira Donohue (Philadelphia, PA/Cardinal Dougherty) and Shannon O'Neill (Langhorne, PA/Council Rock South). The two were selected to the all-Freedom Conference second team after they combined to average 28.5 points and nine assists per game while placing in the conference's top 10 in a number of categories.

Donohue was third in both steals (2.83 avg) and assist/turnover ratio (1.51) while also finishing fifth in both assists (3.96 avg) and 3-pointers per game (1.92). Her average of 14.5 points ranked seventh in the Freedom Conference. Donohue will enter her senior season just 111 points shy of the 1,000-point plateau.

O'Neill led the Freedom Conference in 3-point shooting as she connected on 41.2 percent of her shots from downtown. Her average of 2.63 treys per game ranked second and she was also second in assists with 5.25 helpers per contest. O'Neill also placed fourth in assist/turnover ratio (1.37), seventh in free throw percentage (.806) and 10th in scoring (14.0). With 757 career points, O'Neill has a good shot at the 1,000-point milestone, and her 137 career 3-pointers leaves her just 56 shy of breaking the school record.

Fellow senior Brooke Dittmar (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) also returns after the forward/center led the conference in field goal percentage (.546) and placed second in rebounding (7.9 avg) a season ago. Dittmar also contributed 10.9 points per contest.

Kim Vennera (Norristown, PA/Kennedy-Kenrick) is coming off a product rookie campaign that saw the guard battle through injuries and average eight points and seven rebounds an outing. Her rebounding figure ranked sixth in the Freedom Conference.

The Aggie lineup will also be bolstered by the return of forward Jen McCarthy (Cinnaminson, NJ/St. Basil Academy). McCarthy has elected to use her remaining year of eligibility while earning a second degree from the institution. She averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds while coming off the bench two seasons ago.

Juniors Michelle Oyer (Jenkintown, PA/Jenkintown) and Mandi Wilson (Brookhaven, PA/Sun Valley) have shown improvement in their games and are expected to see more time on the court at forward and center respectively.

Hogan and her staff are also excited about the six newcomers on the Aggie roster and they believe that the group will play a key role this season.

Delaware Valley opens its season on Saturday, November 17 (6:00 p.m.) when it battles Elmira College at the Pepsi/Weis Markets Tip-Off Tournament hosted by Susquehanna University.