SHU Women's Basketball Announce Captains for 2003-04 Season
5/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
May 5, 2003
FAIRFIELD, CT (May 5, 2003) -Sacred Heart University juniors Ashley Kohl (Palmyra, PA), Kate Maher (Waterford, Ireland) and Shannon Quinlivan (Albany, NY) have been elected captains of the women's basketball team for the 2003-04 season announced by head coach Ed Swanson this afternoon.
"These three will have a big challenge ahead as they will be counted on to provide the leadership required to lead a group of seven underclassmen next season," stated Swanson. "Each has shown, as unanimously chosen by their teammates and coaches as captains, that they epitomize what we look for in leadership on and off the basketball court."
Kohl played in all 28 games in 2002-03 and found herself in the starting point guard role 13 games into the season after sophomore Allie Bagnell suffered a season-ending knee injury. The junior responded by leading the team to 18 wins on the season, the second highest total in school history. The team was 12-5 in games that Kohl started, with the junior averaging 9.1 points, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 steals per-game. On the season, she finished with a 6.7 per-game average, handing out 2.5 assists per game and shooting 35.3% (47-133) from behind the three-point line. Kohl's best performance in 2002-03 came in record fashion, when she buried a school record eight treys against Robert Morris to tie the mark for three-point makes in a game. Kohl finished with a career-high 24 points in the win. In addition to her accomplishments on the court, she was named to the 2003 Verizon Academic All-America Team District I University Division second team. Kohl holds a 3.98 grade point average, the highest on the team, with a major in Psychology.
"Ashley Kohl's continued improvement year-to-year has been very visible, none more than this past season when she was needed to fill in at the point guard spot and lead us to an 18 win season," commented Swanson.
Maher was one of the Pioneer's most tenacious defenders in 2002-03, often playing injured throughout the 28 game schedule. The junior forward cracked the starting lineup in 10 of the last 11 games last season, and led a Pioneer defense that held teams to just 55.0 points per game and 36.9% shooting from the field over that stretch. She averaged 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game and grabbed a total of 147 rebounds on the season, her highest total in her three years in the program. Maher also improved her passing last season, handing out a career-high 60 assists.
"Kate Maher's determination, toughness, and ability to play injured give her tremendous leadership skills as a team captain," stated the head coach. "We will need her overall physical and mental toughness to carry over to the rest of the squad."
Quinlivan missed the first two games last season recovering from a preseason ankle injury, but rebounded to become a solid role player off the bench for SHU. Quinlivan averaged 3.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in 2002-03. She turned in a career-night against Robert Morris, coming up with a season-high 11 points to go with seven rebounds, six assists and five steals, all career-highs.
"Shannon Quinlivan will be a vocal leader for us on and off the floor," said Swanson. "She has been a solid player for us who will challenge for a starting role this season and will be counted on to create strong team chemistry."
The trio will succeed departed seniors Brooke Kelly, Ashley Durmer, and Brooke Rutnik. Kelly finished her career third on the school's all-time scoring list while Durmer is SHU's all-time leader in three-point field goals. Sacred Heart finished 18-10 overall in 2002-03, ending the year with a 51-48 loss to Long Island in the Northeast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.
