Seven Freshmen To Play Key Role for Women's Basketball

­The Harvard women’s basketball team enters the 2015-2016 season with seven new freshman faces. While all were standouts in high school, competing for the Ivy League championship poses new challenges and a different level of competition.

Due to injuries and the graduation of three starters, Harvard coach Kathy Delaney-Smith will be calling on several of her first-year players early on.

“This year, no matter their role, every freshman will make a big impact on our team,” co-captain AnnMarie Healy said. “The game is only the final product of a process in which everyone contributes.”

The team boasts just three seniors, three sophomores, and four juniors. This includes one sophomore, Taylor Rooks, who is sitting out the 2015-2016 season in residency after transferring from Stanford. At seven, the freshman class is by far the largest.

Five of the seven new additions are guards, which will help fill the gap left by former starting point guard Ali Curtis ’15.

The first of those is 5’7’’ guard Sydney Skinner. Skinner, who comes from Plano, Texas, has come a long way since her days of playing basketball in kindergarten. As a senior in high school, she was a McDonald’s All-American nominee, one of the highest honors for any high school basketball player.

In the years between, Skinner learned to love everything basketball through her older brother, who acted as both coach and trainer to develop her into the player she is today. She captained her high school squad as both a junior and a senior, leading the team to four consecutive District 10 championships. Her success has translated into confidence about her ability to drive play from the guard position.

“I can bring leadership at the point guard position,” Skinner said. “A voice on the court.”

According to her teammates, Skinner possesses considerable talents both on and off the ball.

“Sydney plays very confidently,” Healy said. “As a point guard, this is an intangible. Good defense and having a great drive are a given.”

Competing at the point guard position with Skinner is freshman Nani Redford, who boasts both quickness and defensive tenacity at the position. Redford started playing basketball in fourth grade and almost immediately joined an AAU team. She was a three-year starter at her high school, which was ranked eighth in the nation her junior year.

This season, Redford will not be playing at the two—as she has done over her career—but instead will be taking the court as a point guard.

“It’s different for me compared to playing off the ball as I had before,” Redford said. “I’ve been playing basketball for many years now. So it’s not bad but definitely an adjustment.”

However, playing as a point guard means that she will play more on-ball defense, which Healy describes as one of her greatest attributes.

“I am so impressed by Nani’s defense,” Healy said. “She will tire out every point guard because of her combination of quickness and endurance.”

Adding to the backcourt depth is Indiana native Madeline Raster. Raster’s ability to get to the net and tenacious rebounding ability distinguished her as a recruit. Raster is joined in the backcourt by guard Kelsey Bogdan from nearby Illinois, who played on an AAU squad for eight years.

Brittney Deadwiler, a guard out of Union City, Calif., is the only freshman walk-on for the 2015-2016 season. After the uncertainty of walking on, Deadwiler has made an impression on her teammates with her intensity and energy. In high school, she was a three-year letter-winner in triple jump, long jump, and high jump.

The remaining two rookies, Hayley Isenberg and Sarah Luedke, will join Healy in the frontcourt as the Crimson seeks to fill the shoes of Temi Fagbenle ’15, who led the team last year in points per game with 14.4.

Isenberg, a 6’2’’ forward out of Dallas, wants to improve and learn from the upperclassmen as much as possible this season but chances are, they might be learning a fair amount from her as well.

Her length, height, and ability to play both in the paint and beyond the three-point line make her a challenging mark for any defender. Like Skinner, Isenberg was a McDonald’s All-American nominee as a senior, when she broke her own high school single-season block record by 15, finishing with 111 on the year.

While Isenberg hopes to bolster the Crimson on the court, she is also focused on helping her teammates on the sidelines.

“Off the court, it’s about being really supportive for our teammates,” Isenberg said. “It’s really hard to have a short memory, so I want to make sure my teammates’ minds are on the next play.”

Luedke, a three-time captain from Longview, Wash., earned high school records in career points, blocks and rebounds. If these high school stats are any indication, Harvard has acquired a dominant inside force.

“Sarah brings a lot to our team by being big inside, getting boards, and finishing her one dribble power move,” Healy said.

In a league where the rookies are forced to play against several competitive Ancient Eight opponents, including nationally ranked Princeton, they must be ready to go when called upon. This season, simply due to the team’s large incoming class relative to the rest of the squad, it will be critical for the freshmen to live up to Delaney-Smith’s adage of not playing like freshmen.

“We will play a lot of freshmen,” Delaney-Smith said. “Sometimes they’ll be great, sometimes they’ll make freshman mistakes, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s okay.”