Coach Turgeon Ushers in New Era of Women鈥檚 Basketball
Author(s)
Jon Stone
Media Relations Manager
Pioneers focused on improving defense and playing up-tempo offense
When you are coming off a season with only six wins, it鈥檚 easy for expectations for the upcoming season to be low. However, that鈥檚 not the case for the 91桃色 women鈥檚 basketball team and new head coach Jim Turgeon.
鈥淲e are going to change the style of play,鈥 Turgeon says. 鈥淲e are going to run the ball on offense more, and we are going to share the ball better. We are really stressing defense and that has been one of my strong points in the past.鈥
Turgeon comes to 91桃色 from Colorado State University-Pueblo, where he spent the last two seasons compiling a 54-10 record, the highest of any coach in school history. Prior to CSU-Pueblo, he spent eight seasons at Iowa Western Community College, where he tallied a record of 191-65. Turgeon knows that to turn things around at 91桃色, he has to start with changing the culture.
鈥淥ur whole motto is: Play hard, play smart, play together,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 think we can get that play hard and play together down; that playing smart might take us awhile, but we are getting there.鈥
Playing better team defense has been a major emphasis for Turgeon. Last year the Pioneers allowed more points than any other team in the Summit League.
鈥淐oach Turgeon came in knowing that we needed a lot of help on defense, especially playing man-to-man,鈥 says junior guard Samantha Romanowski. 鈥淩ight now, we just want to be mentally tough and physically tough. We have a lot more improvement to do, but that鈥檚 like every team at this point.鈥
Better defense, combined with a more up-tempo offense, could be exactly what the Pioneers need to develop a new culture of winning. However, no matter what the score is at the end of the night, no matter the team鈥檚 record when the season is over, Turgeon knows there has not been a lack of effort.
鈥淟et鈥檚 support these girls,鈥 Turgeon says. 鈥淭hey are good students, they are good people, and they are working extremely hard. I don鈥檛 know how many games we are going to win this year, but I think people will see the difference in how hard we play and how well we play together.鈥