Wentworth Institute of Technology: Athletics > Varsity Sports

Season In Review

Coming off of the most successful season in school history during the 2005-06 campaign, and returning all but one player, including the reigning Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year, the bar was set pretty high for this edition for the Leopard women’s basketball squad. However, having to face the adversity of not having a home gym for all but three games would certainly be an added challenge to maintain the winning ways of the past three seasons.

After opening the season with a 22-point loss at Wheaton, Wentworth won its next three contests by an average of 20.7 points, including defeating Gordon for the first time since 1999. After losing to Colby-Sawyer, the Leopards finished the continental portion of its first semester schedule.

Just before Christmas, Wentworth ventured to Hawaii to take place in the 2006 HoopNSurf Invitational. Despite dropping both games, senior forward Cheyenne Noble (Murrysville, Pa.) etched her name in the record books, as she grabbed her 1,000th career rebound—the third women’s basketball player to do so. With the two losses, Wentworth found itself with a 4-4 record through eight games.

Opening 2007 with a 24-point win at New England College pushed the Leopards above .500, but Wentworth would drop its next four games—all by single digits—and would be 5-8 overall and 2-4 in conference play.

A pair of convincing wins over Regis and Anna Maria evened the league record, but a three-game losing streak—again, all by single digits—would see Wentworth stand at 7-10 overall and 4-7 in the CCC with seven games remaining.

The Leopards rallied to the occasion and won five out of its last regular season games, with the lone loss coming at Salve Regina. Standing at 12-12 overall and 9-8 in conference play, the Leopards earned their second consecutive berth in the CCC Tournament. In order to advance past the first round, Wentworth would have to defeat Salve Regina, a team which had just defeated them by 16 points 10 days earlier. The Seahawks, who would win the CCC Tournament, held the Leopards to just 15 points in the first half in a 53-35 win, ending the Leopards’ season at 12-13.

For the fourth consecutive season, Noble was honored by the CCC, as she earned First Team All-CCC honors. Perhaps the best women’s basketball player in the program’s history, she averaged 16.5 points, 11.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.9 steals per game. She leaves Wentworth as the all-time leader in games played (99), rebounds (1,207), and field goals made (637), while ranking second in scoring (1,751) and steals (291), and third in assists (320) and blocked shots (115). She also earned All-Region honors by D3Hoops.com.

Junior forward Emily Cring (Cicero, N.Y.) earned Honoable Mention All-CCC honors for the season consecutive season, as she averaged 12.7 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals. Sophomore Chelsea Proulx (Griswold, Conn.) averaged 6.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game and led the team with 20 three pointers. Freshman Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.) led all rookies in scoring, averaging 5.8 points to go along with 2.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

Looking Ahead

Wentworth loses just one player to graduation in Noble. With a solid nucleus returning, the Leopards should remain competitive within the CCC and look to take a step to being an upper echelon team. In addition to losing Noble, Wentworth will have a new coach for the 2007-08 season as Carrie Crawford resigned after six seasons at Wentworth, with the last four serving as head coach.

“I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with some very special student-athletes over my six years at Wentworth,” said Crawford. “Due to the student-athletes’ hard work and dedication, along with the support of the administration, the team has been able to elevate the competitive level of the program. I am confident in saying the sky is the limit for this team moving forward. I hope only the best for them in the future.”

Schedule

Wentworth plays a 25-game schedule, including 13 conference games against such schools as Colby-Sawyer, Curry, Salve Regina, Endicott, and Gordon. The non-league schedule consists of games against such schools as MIT, Suffolk, and Emerson. During the 2002-03 season, the Leopards traveled to the Rhodes College Tournament (Memphis, Tenn.). During the 1999-2000 season, the Leopards played in the Scotty Wood Tournament at Muhlenberg College and the 1998-99 Leopards played two games in Atlanta to begin the season. The 2006-07 Leopards traveled to the HoopNSurf Tournament in Honolulu, shortly before Christmas break.

History

Women's basketball team has been a varsity sport since 1985, competing in the CCC. Since that time, several women have been honored as all-conference performers and seven have scored 1,000 points or more. Three, Cheyenne Noble, Brandy Trice and Rebecca Morris, have scored over 1,000 points and grabbed more than 1,000 rebounds. The team's 14-11 record in 2006 is the best record in the program's history.

Meet the Coaching Staff

Amanda Rodgerson (University of New England '02) enters her first season as the Wentworth women's basketball coach. She joins the Leopard staff after posting a 44-30 record in her three seasons as the Assistant Athletic Director/Head Women's Basketball Coach at Southern Maine Community College. While at SMCC, her team won a pair of Maine Small College Conference Championships, as well as winning the Yankee Small College Conference title in 2006. A former standout at the University of New England, Rodgerson was the Commonwealth Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2002.