Coach Mehl predicts a good season for women’s basketball

By Aden Sievert//

The Hood women’s basketball team opened its 2022-23 season with a victory/loss over St. Mary’s College of Maryland on Tuesday, Nov. 8.

This year head coach Jack Mehl brought in six first-year players to add depth to the roster after losing one senior player to graduation last spring and to battle remaining injuries from the previous year.

“Preseason went well, we are still dealing with the remnants of injuries from last year…with all that in mind I thought we handled that pretty well,” Mehl said. “I think we’re good to go.”

The team scrimmaged Susquehanna University and Notre Dame of Maryland in the preseason to prepare for conference opponents, as well as to build team chemistry.

This preseason Mehl brought a sports psychologist on campus to spend an entire day with the team. During the day-long meeting, the sports psychologist held personality surveys for every player on the team. By doing this the team learned how their personalities correlate to how they grow and compete while on the court. 

“It was really interesting for the players to figure out their personalities and how they worked on the court,” Mehl said.

The team also got together and wrote out a list of the things they are going to try their best to control this season for the best result. Each player on the roster has a printed version and has it posted in their locker for a constant reminder as their season continues.

This season the Blazers will face familiar foes such as Penn State Berks on Nov. 15 and Roanoke College on Dec. 19. The team begins conference play within the MAC on Nov. 30 at home against Stevenson University.