Despite limited depth, Lady Knights believing in new coach, experienced roster to win more

LAURINBURG — With a new head coach in place and eight players (three currently ineligible) returning from last year, the St. Andrews women’s basketball team is hoping for more wins to top last year’s record of 3-23 despite having a low-numbered roster.

After former head coach Shareka Maner left during the summer for an assistant coaching job at NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri — which she is no longer at, according to the school’s athletics website — Vinnie Granato was hired by St. Andrews for his first gig as a head college basketball coach in July.

Granato was on the women’s basketball coaching staff of the NAIA’s Goshen College in Indiana from 2014-20 and served as the program’s associate head coach for the final two seasons of his stint. In the 2015-16 season, he helped Goshen compile a school-best 27-9 record, become top-20 nationally in points per game and field-goal percentage, and have a 100% graduation rate. He departed Goshen to become the eSports head coach at Div. III Adrian College in Michigan in 2020 but is now returning to the coaching ranks in basketball.

“It’s been an adjustment for me,” Granato said on his transition to St. Andrews. “(The players have) helped me a lot. They’ve been helping me out with filling in the cracks, doing this and that, understanding more of the school, (and) helping me out with recruiting. I’m thankful for that.”

Granato’s recruiting has started on a high note as he brought in guards Emily Cruz and Raekayla Middleton out of high school during the offseason. The downside, however, is that Cruz and Middleton are two of just seven players that will be available for the beginning of the season.

Center Caycee Scott and forwards Makayla Salliey and Alexandria Barrino are all ineligible to play for at least the first semester, which limits the Lady Knights’ depth.

“First semester, we’re kind of shorthanded a little bit,” Granato said. “(We need) one thing from everyone. We have to find ways to really battle and get after it.”

Granato plans on doing that by getting his team to have “a competitive edge.”

“We talk about team strengths; I think our competitive edge is going to be something that will really help us out throughout the first semester and onward for the rest of the year,” Granato said. “I think every team needs that, and I think we have that. I’m excited.”

To help with that advantage, St. Andrews returns their leading scorer from a season ago in guard Ashley Starks (14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 2.0 steals last year) and gets guards A.J. Price (9.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 steals) and Hailey Crozier (0.9 points) back as well.

“I expect us to go further than last year and work hard,” Starks said. “We are very small, so we need more bodies. I still plan on working hard like I did last year and helping my team do the same. But I think we could work (well) with seven people.”

With Salliey (10.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.5 blocks), the team’s best statistical forward, unavailable for now, St. Andrews will have to rely on forwards Samantha Tougher (6.7 points, 2.1 rebounds) and Madison Larrimore (2.1 points, 3.5 rebounds) to hold down the frontcourt.

And although Tougher was the Lady Knights’ best 3-point shooter during the 2022-23 season at 31.2% (min. 10 games played), she is eager for the change in her role to play near the rim more. ”Because we are short (in) numbers, I’m going to be playing a role in the post, so I want to try and advance my skills a little bit more,” Tougher said. “I want to keep up with my shooting like I did last season, but I also want to get in the paint … and be an all-around player this year, not just a stationary shooter.”

To help with the discrepancy in size compared to last year, Granato has worked heavily on defense with his team and wants that to become his team’s identity.

“We want to be a really good defensive team because defense carries on the road,” Granato said. “What I look for on defense is making sure we understand what our philosophies are, what we’re trying to do with our goals, and competing on that defensive end; communicate, be energized, and really just compete on any given night. That’s something that I really want to make sure we progress. And at the end of the year, be (in) the top half (of) defensive teams. All that comes back to that competitive edge, willingness to compete, that’s really going to help us out.”

St. Andrews received just 17 votes and was picked to finish last out of 15 teams in the 2023-24 Appalachian Athletic Conference women’s basketball preseason poll released earlier this month. Bryan and Pikeville were both selected as the poll’s first-place team with 183 votes each.

The team expects to be better than that though, and is aiming for their first winning season since 2018-19, when they went 16-13.

“I hope we have a good winning season,” Tougher said. “The main goal is to win the whole thing, but (we want to take) stepping stones.”

“I think the ladies are definitely motivated,” Granato said. “(I’ve) got a bunch of ballers on the team that want to play (and) get after it. They could play tomorrow if they could. So, I think as long as we’re healthy, it’s going to be a really fun year. I think we’ll be good to compete (and) get after it.”

St. Andrews opens the season at home against Morris on Wednesday.

“That’s a team that’s going to be a good test for us because they’re going to be active; they’re going to get after it,” Granato said on Morris. “They’re going to attack the paint, do multiple things offensively, and be energized defensively. So, we’re going to match their energy, and hopefully, that’ll be a good start to the season.”