With Health Comes Greater Expectations

Talk to anyone around the DU women’s basketball program and the one thing you’ll hear is how healthy the team is for a change.

“To practice every day with 14 players is a wonderful gift,” says coach Kerry Cremeans.

Last season the Pioneers were not only battling their opponents on the court, but also the injury bug. The team went through part of the season with only seven healthy players, forcing some to play 40 minutes a game. With a healthier team, Cremeans plans to rotate in more players and play at a faster pace.

“We do want to be up-tempo. We do want to create more havoc on the defensive end,” Cremeans says. “We have players now who have to adjust to the pacing of the game.”

The faster pace is something all the players welcome. “We have been working really hard to change our style of play,” says junior point guard Ciera Morgan. “Practices are a lot more competitive because we have healthy bodies running around the court. It’s really nice playing with 15 versus seven.”

The team is also adjusting to a lot of new faces. There are seven new players adding to the intensity of the practices. “We have depth this year that we lacked last year,” says senior center Jesse Spittel. “Each day in practice has been increasingly competitive, and we’ve worked very hard in the training room just to get stronger and healthier this year.”