The La Roche women's basketball team was predicted to finish first in the AMCC preseason poll released this morning. The Redhawks have won seven straight AMCC Championships and appeared in the last seven NCAA Tournaments.
Sam Salih takes over the head coaching position after serving the past three seasons as an assistant coach. Salih helped lead the Redhawks to a 71-13 overall record, three regular season AMCC conference titles that include an undefeated record 18-0 (2016-17), three AMCC tournament titles and 3 straight trips to the NCAA tourney.
The Redhawks graduated all five starters from last season but they will bring in a tremendously talented squad for the 2017-18 season. Darrian Johnson, Dalezsa Regan return as three-year contributors and Lenisha Gabriel and Shawnshirae Brown-Kirby as two-year contributors.
Johnson is the lone Redhawk senior and one of the top shooters in the AMCC Conference. She ranked fourth in the AMCC in three-point percentage the past two years and is the Redhawks top returning scorer. Regan and Gabriel both saw action in the post last season and Brown-Kirby got minutes at the point.
Joining the four returners are two transfers and five freshmen.
Jenna Cole comes to La Roche from Pitt-Greensburg where she was a 2016-17 AMCC All-Conference Third Teamer. She averaged near a double-double with 17.3 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game which ranked fourth and second in the AMCC.
Jazmyne Boyd played at Penn State Beaver last season where she averaged 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game.
Stephanie Thomas was a WPIAL All-Section performer last season at Brentwood High School. She averaged a double-double and helped Brentwood rank among the top teams in the area.
Nicole Boda and Nia Thomas are Highlands High School graduates where they were four-year starters. Both participated in the Cager Classic All-Star Game last season.
Sidney Farmer was a starter at Beaver Falls High School and helped her team make the WPIAl playoffs.
Shaundrea Butler comes from the Cleveland area and helped her team to the disctrict championship game.
The Redhawks open the season on November 15 and will host John Carroll. Their AMCC Conference opener is on December 2 at Pitt-Bradford.