"We are excited to play someone other than ourselves," said head coach Joan Bonvicini. "I am pleased with our intensity and our player's coachability. This is a new system and they have picked it up well."
SeattleU returns 14 letterwinners and four starters from the 2008-09 season. With the bulk of their roster returning, the new faces in the Redhawk program come in the form of the coaching staff.
Bonvicini, a veteran in the Division I women's head coaching ranks, joins SU for her first season at the helm of the program. She brings an all-time head coaching record of 612-294 to Seattle and a .676 winning percentage. The East Coast native takes over a Redhawk program that went 20-9 last season and is ready to build a championship bound squad.
"I am thrilled and excited for tomorrow," continued Bonvicini. "I feel like I am ready to coach tomorrow and win. I am looking forward to representing Seattle University and building a successful basketball program."
The esteemed women's basketball coach is joined by three new assistant coaches beginning with Jamie Angeli. Angeli, a former assistant at prestigious men's Division I programs like UCLA and South Florida, boasts 25 years in the basketball profession, as a player, coach, administrator and published author.
Entering their first season as Division I assistant coaches are Joy Hollingsworth and Kristen O'Neill. Both Pacific Northwest natives are former Pacific-10 student-athletes. Hollingsworth, a former All-Pac 10 selection at the University of Arizona, reunites with her former collegiate coach in Bonvicini. The former Seattle Prep star also spent two seasons at the University of San Francisco, where she was the 2003 West Coast Conference Player of the Year.
Rounding out the Redhawk coaching staff is former University of Washington standout Kristen O'Neill. With the Huskies, she was a two-time team Defensive Player of the Year and a Pac-10 All-Freshman Team selection in 2006. In addition to a decorated playing career at UW, she also spent time with local WNBA franchise the Seattle Storm and professional teams overseas.
Behind an experienced coaching staff, the Redhawks look forward to building upon a successful 2008-09 season. First up is Northwest, who defeated Cal Maritime 94-64 on Oct. 31.
Leading the Kirkland, Wash. based program are Jessica Wilkerson and Alexa Breidenbach. Wilkerson, who scored 24 points, went 6-for-8 for the free throw line and tallied 11 defensive rebounds in the game. Breidenback went 6-for-10 in field goals to go onto score 20 points versus the California-based opponent. She had six rebounds, three assists and one steal in 28 minutes on the floor.
"Northwest is a strong team," Bonvicini said. "They put up good points versus Cal Maritime and have a solid roster behind them. They are a balanced and impressive team."
Fans log on to www.GoSeattleU.com at the end of this week for part two of this four part series leading up to the first Redhawk regular season contest. Up next in the countdown series will be a breakdown of the SeattleU guards.