Blend of vets, frosh has Brookdale women winning
BY TIM MORRIS Staff Writer
Just a few games into the 2007-08 campaign, Brookdale Community College's women's basketball coaches Joanne Cobb and Marianne Campacci have a mixture of sophomores and freshmen that has clicked.

That may seem early in the campaign for a team breaking in that many new players, but the proof is in BCC's start. The Jersey Blues are 4-1, and 3-0 in Garden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) play.

Cobb attributed the team's jelling so early, despite the addition of five new players, to the returning veterans. The sophomores, she pointed out, learned about leadership last winter when the Jersey Blues advanced to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Championships for the first time in school history. They have welcomed the five incoming freshmen with open arms.

That national experience has not only made the six returning players from that team better prepared for what to expect this year, it has helped them with the incoming freshmen.

"It was a big help, going to the nationals," said Cobb. "The freshmen respect what they did. The sophomores realized the leaders they have to be. "From last year, they know that you can't look to the end of the season," she added. "You have to take it one game at a time."

Brookdale's traditional preseason team-building camp and a trip to Tucson, Ariz., to start the season helped the players become familiar with one another, making the jelling process easier.

"We have a great bunch of kids," said Cobb.

And it is showing on the basketball court, where the Blues have to be considered serious contenders to repeat as Garden State Athletic Conference and Region XIX champions again this winter and return to the nationals.

Sasha Fabrizio, Jamie Biddle (Howell) and Erica Hoffman (Middletown South) are some of BCC's top sophomores.

Fabrizio, Cobb noted, has picked up her game on both ends of the floor and is averaging a double-double (13 points and 13.25 rebounds a game). At 5 feet 10, she is a real force inside. She owns the glass, as her rebounding average can attest.

Biddle, a 5-foot-10 forward like Fabrizio, was the Region tournament MVP. She's also a double-double threat with her ability to play inside or outside. A quad injury limited her playing time in the first two games of the season, and she is resting it for the next two weeks.

It says volumes about Brookdale's talent level, that despite a limited contribution from the Region MVP, they are 4-1.

Hoffman is the team's three-point shooting

threat, but the former Middletown South star is more than a set-shooter from beyond the arc. She's a slasher who can put the ball on the floor and take it to the paint.

One of the Blues' outstanding incoming freshmen is point guard Kitora Jones (Perth Amboy).

"She's our general," said Cobb. "She reacts on the fly. She has a feel for our style. We turn her loose."

Jones is averaging 15 points a game and three assists per outing.

Another frosh, Savannah Simmons (Long Branch) is the backup point guard.

Sophomore Lisa James (Manchester) has yet to play because of an elbow injury. When she returns to the backcourt, the Blues will be even more formidable there. Again, it speaks to BCC's depth that it is winning without its complete lineup.

"Each of our freshmen has stepped up," Cobb explained.

Sophomore Olivia Triano (Keyport) is a power forward who plays like a small forward with her passing and three-point shooting. She is tied for the lead in assists with Jones (3.0 per game) and leads the team in scoring (18.0) and is second in rebounding (7.75).

Keshia Taylor (Point Pleasant Boro), and Vallerea Vazquez (Keansburg) add depth on the forward line. Taylor is a returning sophomore and Vazquez is a frosh.

Freshman Maria LoCicero (Mater Dei) is Hoffman's backup at the two guard.

Kimberley Coleman (Monsignor Donovan) is another versatile 5-foot-10 forward who can play with her back to the basket or facing it. She's a freshman.

Like last year's team that finished sixth at the national championships, the Blues use everyone so they can apply pressure at all times.

"We're doing everything," said Cobb. "We can go full-court, slow it down, switch speeds and play half-court," she said. "This team is very nice."

The Blues are home for the first time in two weeks tomorrow night when they host Ocean County Community College in a GSAC and Region game that tips off at 5 p.m. Their final home game of 2007 is Dec. 20 against Mercer.