By Joel Jackson
Contributing Writer
Coming into the 2013-‘14 season with a young and unproven squad, the Bonnies have not lowered their expectations.
“I’d like to win the A-10 Tournament,” sophomore forward Hannah Little said. “I expect to win a lot of games.”
Little and fellow sophomore guard Nyla Rueter will be integral for the young Bonnies this year in order to have success in the Atlantic 10. The Bonnies have only two returning seniors and no juniors. So the sophomores are being forced to take more of a leadership role according to Rueter said.
“This year, it has really changed,” Rueter said. “A lot of the sophomores have to be leaders. We have to really step up and provide a lot for the team.”
The team hopes to improve upon its record from last year under the leadership of upperclassman, Rueter said. Besides Little and Rueter, Kelcie Rombach, Emily Michael and Katie Healy are returning for their second seasons.
“As a team, we want to improve on last year. It’s going to be a challenge, but we want to do just as well, if not better than we did last year,” Rueter said. “I think that improving my confidence is really going to help this year.”
Another challenge the Bonnies will face this season is a short bench. With only 11 players, the sophomores will be heavily relied on.
“I’m going to have to bring more to the table,” Little said. “Our team is low on numbers. People are going to have to step up.”
Despite the team’s confidence, the Bonnies were picked to finish ninth out of 13 teams in the realigned Atlantic 10 by coaches and the media.
Rueter said she understands why the young team was picked toward the bottom.
“I actually was surprised we were that high just because we didn’t really do that well (last year), and we are really young, so I was really surprised they put us at ninth,” Rueter said. “I thought we were going to be lower.”
Rueter thinks the low ranking in the conference will help to motive the Bonnies.
“It really lights a fire underneath us, and we really want to do well in the A-10 this year,” Rueter said.
Little agreed with Rueter, saying she believed the Bonnies could finish near the top of the league.
“It makes me want to prove everyone wrong and show them that we can finish in the top three,” Little said.
In order to achieve this goal, Ruter said team chemistry will be important to team success.
“I think the biggest challenge will be keeping everyone on the same page. If we can do that, then we will do really well,” Rueter said.
