Young. Energetic. Exciting to watch. All words Head Coach Cindy Griffin used to describe this year’s iteration of St. Joe’s women’s basketball. For the 2019-20 season, the Hawks brought in a class of six freshmen and according to Griffin, they are expected to step in right away and perform.
“We are going to have two freshmen on the court most times,” Griffin said. “Sometimes three. With that, we are going to need great leadership, and we are going to need great tempo.”
One freshman Griffin expects to rely on is forward Claire Melia, who will be the team’s starting center.
Melia is from Monasterevin, Ireland and is coming off of a summer that saw her captain the Ireland’s national team to bronze at the Division B of the 2019 FIBA U-20 Women’s European Championships. Melia averaged 16.3 points and 12 rebounds per game during the tournament.
Melia said she believes having both this experience and experience playing against professionals in Ireland will help her acclimate to Atlantic 10 play.
“You are basically playing against some of the best college players here who went professional,” Melia said. “It helps you to improve your game as well.”
Melia is joined by fellow international forward Imogen Ayliffe who hails from Perth, Western Australia. For her, there was an initial shock from the transition from high school basketball to college.
“It was a lot more intense than I was expecting,” Ayliffe said. “It was foot on the pedal right when you got here.”
That same sentiment was shared by freshman guard Jaden Walker.
“I never had to condition so much in my life,” Walker said.
However, for guard Lauren Ross, this freshman class has supported each other through the transition so far.
“It is definitely comforting knowing you are not the only one going through it,” Ross said. “If somebody is having a bad day, you might have a bad day next week so we can all lean on each other.”
Freshman forward Gabby Smalls credits the veteran for providing guidance to the younger players.
“They give out a lot of good pointers,” Smalls said. “If we mess up on a play they will direct us. They are really good at making sure we remember everything. They check up on us and they are just there for us.”
To further this relationship between the newcomers and veterans, the team has implemented a sister program where an upper-level player will be paired with a first or second-year player and mentor them.
“Even though they are like the minority you don’t really feel it because they are always there helping you,” Walker said.
For freshman guard Kaliah Henderson, she is continuing to foster a relationship with her fellow freshmen and is also looking forward to what the group can accomplish in the future.
“We all hang out together,” Henderson said. “At first it was kind of [awkward], you know, but now we are coming together. It is going to be really scary for the next four years playing together. We are just going to get better and better.”
