After a difficult out-of -conference schedule to start the season, the Plattsburgh State women’s basketball team is looking to defend its home court in its first SUNYAC games of the season.
The Cardinals will host New Paltz and Oneonta this weekend in two games that mean a lot to the team, head coach Cheryl Cole said. Cole stressed the importance of these types of games and how it is a difficult time for the whole team with both studies and sports on their minds.
“This is a big weekend, huge weekend,” Cole said. “This is regarding both school and basketball. Three of our players have finals on the same day as our game on Saturday.”
Aside from the team as a whole, there is also a huge milestone up for grabs this weekend. Senior Brittany Marshall is only ten points away from scoring 1,000 for her career, a huge accomplishment. Marshall humbly downplayed the giant accomplishment.
“A lot of people are talking about it,” Marshall said. “It is definitely a cool thing, but I am just focused on winning right now.”
Regardless of whether Marshall wants to recognize it or not, it is a huge accomplishment. Marshall is averaging 15.3 points per game this season, so it is highly likely she will achieve the feat this weekend. The whole PSUC team seems to be focused on what is important, winning. This zoned in attitude is also felt by Stephanie Linder. Linder highlighted the two-week hiatus from games as time the Cards were able to work on what had gone wrong during their out-of-conference games.
“The break was much needed for us,” Linder said. “We were able to work on everything that has been hurting us.”
Cole had similar feelings to Linder on the break allowing her squad to improve upon some issues, leading to improved confidence heading into this weekend. She said that as defending SUNYAC champions, the team has a bit of a target on their back.
“We are definitely getting to where we need to be,” Cole said. “Our offense and defense are both based heavily on trust, and that is improving. We’ve been playing very, very well in practice I’m confident that, if we play like that, we will come out very strong.”
A few issues that have hurt PSUC so far this season, such as shot selection and effectiveness on defense, are bound to arise, but if the Cards are able to keep these to a minimum, it is not hard to believe they will come out of the weekend with some wins.
In the biggest weekend of their season so far, the Cards face two SUNYAC opponents that are bound to give them a good battle. A long break and ever-increasing amount of team chemistry should allow them to achieve success.
Email Bailey Carlin at bailey.carlin@cardinalpointsonline.com.
