Bucks County Community
College Women’s Basketball team
wrapped up their 2016 season
this past month after completing a
tough 3-18 record for the season.
But, this season was not strictly
about winning for the team, as the
women did not even have a team
for the 2015 season.
When asked about not having a
team in 2015, head coach Frederick
Hilliard simply said, “A
number of girls decided to not
participate last year, so we simply
did not have enough players for
the season.”
Not only was the team coming
back from a year’s hiatus,
another challenge posed to coach
Frederick was the fact that all
of the players on the roster were
freshman.
When asked about what impact
all freshman players had on the
season, coach Frederick said,
“Actually it hasn’t been that
challenging, and I actually think
it benefited us.” He continued on
to say, “They were very coachable
and ready to learn, everybody
worked hard in practice and that
allows us set a really good foundation.”
Although the team struggled in
many areas including youth, the
women did however thrive in securing
rebounds, by averaging 22
rebounds a game with the tallest
player being 5 feet 10 inches.
When asked about the amount
of emphasis coach Frederick
puts into rebounding, he said,
“One thing we focus on every
single practice is rebounding.”
He continued on to say, “I always
preach the importance of boxing
out, being in good position, and
hustling.”
In fact, Coach Frederick even
gives each of the women a
rebounding goal for game. When
asked how this method worked,
he said, “It gives them a measure
to hit every game, so they’re
really focused on hitting those
numbers.”
One down side to the play of the
Women Centurion’s is their ability
to shoot from the field where they
average 24.6 percent. Along with
field goal percentage, assisting
was also an issue for the team as
they averaged just four a game.
Coach Frederick talked about
how the team can improve on
these numbers next season by
explaining, “We just have to continue
to build, and I think it got
better as the season went along.”
He added to his comments by
saying, “It’s really about taking
smart shots, and allowing each
individual player to get in the best
position to get open looks.”
After a long season, Coach
Frederick was asked what he had
learned after coaching this group,
he answered by saying, “I think I
learned how to make my messages
concise and being direct.” He
continued on by saying, “I also
learned how to be honest with
each of them so they can continue
to get better, as well as being
proactive in pointing out areas of
growth.”
Even though Women’s Basketball
struggled in the 2016 season,
it stands as a solid building block
for years to come with new freshman
coming in.
Coach Frederick talked about
the women returning by saying,
“My expectation is that all of
them are coming back.” He added
on by saying, “That’s the exciting
thing about the program, is that
we have a foundation to build on,
allowing the incoming freshman
to learn from them.”
2017 looks to be a promising
year for the Centurions Women’s
Basketball team to bounce back
and continue to build for the
future.