Captains Video Interview
D3 Hoopville Interview With Head Coach Bobbi Morgan
HAVERFORD, Pa – The Haverford College women's basketball season will open up on Tuesday night in Montclair, N.J. as the Fords take on Montclair State to begin the season. Tip-time is slated for 7:30 p.m.
The Fords open the 2016-17 campaign on the heels of a fifth-straight postseason appearance during the 2015-16 season. Haverford is aiming to return to the NCAA Tournament after a two-year hiatus.
Under the direction of ninth-year Head Coach Bobbi Morgan, the Fords will be looking to reach the Centennial Conference Tournament for a program-record sixth consecutive season in 2016-17. The Fords are in a unique position to continue the best run of success in the program's history with a truly special season using a mix of experience and youth exuberance. After a 15 win season in which the Fords finished fifth in the nation in opponent field goal percentage, expectations are high on the Haverford campus.
Haverford has been predicted to finish third in the Centennial Conference preseason poll. The Fords received 147 voting points, which forced a third-place tie with McDaniel. The Green Terror also received 147 voting points including one first place vote. Muhlenberg was picked to repeat as conference champions for the third-straight season, receiving 198 voting points and 19 of the 21 first place tallies.
The Fords have a deep roster that includes four of its five starters and the entire bench from the postseason campaign in 2015-16. All-Centennial Conference honorees Sierra Berkel and Samantha Wetzel will join with All-Sportsmanship Team representative Clio Bodie to form the captaincy of the the 2016-17 squad.
The team's leading scorer, Berkel (11.1 ppg), and third-leading scorer, Wetzel (9.5 ppg), will look to head the offense in their junior years. Berkel has made a lasting impact on the Haverford program already, boasting the best field goal percentage in program history in 2014-15 (.555) and following up with the third best mark in 2015-16 (.498), despite seeing 200 more minutes. Prowess on the boards has the Flushing, N.Y. product in the top ten in Haverford career history in rebounding average and defensive rebounding average.
Wetzel sits as the Career blocked shots average leader at Haverford (2.1 per game) and is fifth in blocked shots (110). Her 73 blocks in 2015-16 was the best mark in program history.
Macy Goldbach (8.6 ppg), Katie Cook (6.9 ppg) and Tori Hopkins (3.7 ppg) are all expected to make major contributions in their sophomore campaigns after promising freshman seasons. Senior leadership will come from Bodie, Darby Festa and Madison Skerritt, as all three look to anchor and shape a group that includes 11 underclassmen.
A large crop of newcomers will also be tested early as Anna-Sophia Capizzi, Megan Furch, Maddie Gallic, Aleiyah Springer, Unique Tuberville and Hannah Zoll join the team as first year players.
The Fords, who went 7-4 on their home court, will host 11 home games again this season, including non-conference tests against Stevens (Dec. 3) and Immaculata (Jan. 16). The road schedule includes the aforementioned opener against Montclair State and the Morgan Stanley/Easton DeSales Tip-Off Tournament which features a matchup with the host Bulldogs (Nov. 19) and a tournament game against William Patterson or St. Vincent (Nov. 20). The rest of the road schedule consists of the ten Centennial Conference jaunts that dot the winter landscape.
Fans are encouraged to follow all the action this season by keeping up with HaverfordAthletics.com and following @HCFords_Sports on Twitter and @HCFordsSports on Instagram.