Aiming for the top: Rochester College women have gone from doormat to national title contender in just a few years
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ROCHESTER HILLS — It’s not that Rochester College has much history when it
USCAA-BOUND: Rochester College women's basketball coach Eric Sims has guided the Warriors to its second consecutive berth in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association National Tournament. Courtesy Photo | Rochester College
comes to women’s basketball. The Warriors have only reached the national tournament on two occasions before this season and have never won a title.
Yet the Warriors have quickly turned the program around the past couple of years and have been ranked in the top 10 this season in the United States Collegiate Athletic Association circles all season.
Eric Sims, who served as an assistant coach the past couple of years under Joel Schroeder before taking over the program last summer, has watched the Warriors turn the ship around in a hurry. Only four years ago, RC had just six wins.
Last season, the Warriors righted the shipped the ship, finishing with a 17-15 regular season record and 20-16 overall. More importantly, the RC women reached the national title game of the USCAA tournament for the first time.
“We’ve turned it around pretty quick,” offered Sims. “We had some good players last year we brought in some really good freshman. We started two true freshmen last season with a good group of veterans. We only lost one player and she didn’t play very much.”
This season the Warriors, who play several Division I, Division II, Division II and NAIA schools throughout their independent schedule, have been battled tested. They grabbed the No. 2 seed this season, its highest to date, and are expected to do well.
“Four years ago I think we had six wins, then 11 and then 20 last season including the tournament,” said Sims. This year we have 18, which is the most I think we’ve had in the regular season.”
Rochester received a first-round bye for the national tourney, and awaits the winner of Apprentice and PSU-Beaver at 5 p.m. Friday for its quarterfinal matchup.
The USCAA national tournament is March 2-6 at Penn State-Fayette. The event features both the men’s Division I and Division II tournaments and the women’s tournament all at one site.
“There’s a lot of basketball being played in just a few short days,” said Sims. “The games go all day.”
Senior guard Jessica Crook surpassed 1,000 point mark last year and is the leader of this talented team. Part of a balanced lineup, Crook is the all-time leading scorer and is only averaging 13 points an outing heading into the national tournament.
Center Sam Tomashko is averaging a double-double and leads the USCAA in blocked shots, and Kelly Brown, the leading scorer two years ago before taking a medical redshirt last season, is also averaging in double figures.
Sophomore Lexy Newsome is the team’s point guard, earning all-USCAA Tournament honors a year ago. She is averaging around six points, five assists and four rebounds a game, while sophomore sister Whitney Newsom is one of the first players off the bench who delivers plenty of accuracy from beyond the three-point arc.
Kaimana Kaaikala is another dead-eye shooter who leads the nation in three-point shooting percentage.
“We play a lot of girls,” offered Sims. “I think that’s one of our strengths. We play nine girls at least 12 minutes a game. I think we are able to wear teams down with our depth.
Still, Rochester College gained some experience last season and hope to return home a champion this weekend.
“These girls gained their first taste of national tournament last year and they are incredibly driven to get back,” continued Sims. “This has been our goal since the beginning.
“We’re excited to be going,” continued Sims. “I think before last year, we went one other time in 2004 and lost by something like 40 points. Last year we recorded our first tournament victory.”
A year ago, Rochester College defeated Penn State-Fayette, defending 2009 champions Spalding and Cincinnati Claremont to reach the finals. In the finals, RC was defeated by Talladega College, 48-36.
Talladega finished under five-hundred and did not qualify this season. There will be a new champion this season in the USCAA.
“That’s the ultimate goal, but we know it won’t be easy,” said Sims. We beat Apprentice by three early in the season. There are a lot of teams that are fairly close. We hope to go out there and play well.”
Category: Campus Clips, Colleges / Other, Rochester College
