FDU-Florham Women’s Basketball Can’t Storm the Castle

Basketball, College, Fairleigh Dickinson University

January 27, 2023

As the season progresses, the FDU-Florham women’s basketball team continued to improve. However, the lady Devils fell to the Arcadia Knights, 63-28, on Wednesday evening. That said, the Devils are extremely limited in their schemes and coaching because of their lack of depth.

During the offseason, the Devils acquired a new head coach, and ultimately he was left with no time to recruit for the upcoming season. Therefore, this left him no choice but to gather what players he could internally weeks before the start of the season. Going into this year, the Devils only have six players on the roster.

Although the Devils only have six players, they worked and played extremely hard. Naturally, they’re overly fatigued, and oftentimes lose momentum and energy throughout the game. However, the Devils have a unique mindset, or at least their star player freshman PG Abigail Rodriguez does. This newfound energy and mindset have helped bring a different level of confidence to their inexperienced roster. In spite of their inexperience, the team continues to search for their first win of the season.

“As of now, I can’t really score all by myself because I get doubled, however I don’t really focus on the numbers anymore,” Rodriguez stated in the post-game interview. “I just focus on having fun and enjoying time with my friends who come support me.”

FDU-Florham Devils Positive Takeaways

Ultimately, Rodriguez ended the game with 12 points and four assists, however it didn’t come in the first half. Early in the game, she recorded just two points at halftime. In fact, the leading scorer was senior C Whitney Shyposh with six points. The Devils have yet to play their best brand of basketball, yet there still remain things to build off going forward.

As the game progressed, Rodriguez began to facilitate much more and find her teammates in transition. Not to mention, junior SG Destiny Knight appeared to grow more confident shooting much more frequently and efficiently. Shyposh was monstrous on the boards, in fact she was the games leading rebounder. Furthermore, their defense caused much more turnovers than previously before.

Devils women’s HC Van Johnson appears to be elevating their games and bringing the team together one game at a time. The Devils have six games remaining, hopefully they can find a way to come out on top. Upcoming, their next matchup is against Kings College on Saturday evening.