There was a changing of the guard at the top of the Centennial Conference East Division last women’s basketball season, as Swarthmore unseated Muhlenberg after a five-year run. The Mules enter the 2001-02 season looking to restore the old guard.

Senior forward Jenn Risley is in her third season as a team captain.

Faced with that restoration project is new head coach Ron Rohn, who came to Muhlenberg after six seasons at Colgate. Rohn inherits a team that is both young and experienced: eight letterwinners return from last season’s 14-11 squad, but only three of them have been with the program more than a year.

Heading the list of returnees are two seniors who were All-CC second-team selections in 2000 but saw their numbers drop as juniors. Guard Lindsay St. Lawrence was the team’s leading scorer in 2001, averaging 9.8 points per game. A three-year starter, she also led Muhlenberg in three-pointers and assists and ranked second in blocked shots and third in steals. Forward Jenn Risley, in her third year as a team captain, will look to rebound after seeing her scoring average dip from 11.2 to 8.9. She closed the season on a high note, however, averaging 11.4 points over the final 10 games.

The other returning veteran is junior Randi Baran, who was the Mules’ starting point guard for the final two-thirds of the 2000-01 season and did a steady job with the offense. She tied for second on the team with 37 assists. Sophomore Erin DeVaney also returns at the guard spot after showing good accuracy from three-point range in limited action last year.

In the frontcourt, Muhlenberg will need to replace two starters who combined to average 17.9 points and 10.8 rebounds. Sophomores Susan Marchiano, Amber Nelson and Becky Richmond all saw consistent varsity time last year. Marchiano led the team in blocked shots and was fifth in scoring (5.4 ppg) and second in rebounding (4.8 rpg). Nelson averaged 2.6 points and 1.8 rebounds, while Richmond finished third on the team in rebound average (4.2 per game) to go along with 3.3 points per game. Two other sophomores, Jill Friedman and Lindsay Tis, figure to see more significant varsity time this season.

The Tournament schedule is as follows:

Friday, November 16
1:00 Gallaudet vs. Springfield (women)
3:00 Muhlenberg vs. Widener (women)
6:00 Baldwin-Wallace vs. Moravian (men)
8:00 Muhlenberg vs. Philadelphia Biblical (men)
Saturday, November 17
1:00 Consolation Game (women)
3:00 Consolation Game (men)
6:00 Championship Game (women)
8:00 Championship Game (men)

WMUH 91.7 FM is scheduled to broadcast the 8:00 games on both Friday and Saturday. To listen in, go the the WMUH Web site and click on real audio.

Women’s Tournament: The Muhlenberg women (14-11 last year) were 10-1 at Memorial Hall and ended the season with a nine-game home winning streak. Widener (7-17) has an experienced veteran roster, led by senior center/forward Mandy Joachim (7.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg), junior guard Jackie Sweeney (10.1 ppg, 1.2 spg) and sophomore center/forward Erin Nemshick (7.8 ppg, 8.0 rpg).

Springfield (Mass.) is coming into the tournament with the best record (24-5) from last year. The Pride returns a balanced attack led by three seniors: preseason All-America forward Kelly Thompson (11.0 ppg, 4.9 rpg), forward Catherine Proto (8.8 ppg, 8.4 rpg) and guard Katie Strong (10.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg). Springfield advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year and is ranked 25th in the d3hoops.com preseason poll.

Gallaudet (D.C.) graduated the sixth leading scorer in Division III from last year’s 7-18 team and has only one senior on the roster.

Men’s Tournament: Muhlenberg (14-12) made it to the championship each of the last 18 seasons, winning 11 titles. Philadelphia Biblical (10-17), Muhlenberg’s first opponent, is returning senior guard Steve Melniczak (17.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 4.5 apg) and junior forward Joel Gaines (11.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg).

In the other first round game it will be Baldwin-Wallace (Ohio) taking on Moravian. The Yellow Jackets (17-8) graduated 38.1 points per game and are looking to fill the void. They will call upon senior guard Jason Shefft, who was injured last season but has scored 1,231 points so far in his career, and senior guard Shawn McCormick, who averaged 17.0 points per game, shot 90.5% from the free throw line, and was a second team All-OAC selection.

Moravian (9-15) graduated its leading scorer but is returning three starters and eight lettermen, including junior guard Kevin Hall, who averaged 11.8 points per game while connecting on 40 three-pointers. Also returning is junior forward Ken Greb, who led the Greyhounds in rebounding (6.4 rpg) and averaged 11.1 points per game while recording 15 blocks.