Deep may be an appropriate word to describe the 2008-09 women’s basketball team – both in terms of personnel and season expectations.

After a heartbreaking end to the season last year, when the Hoyas were the lone team left out of a three-way tiebreaker for the final two spots in the Big East tournament, Georgetown is poised to make a run deeper into the postseason. League coaches picked the Hoyas to finish 11th in the Big East.

Georgetown returns six players who started in a game last year, though they have no one who started more than 16 of the team’s 29 contests. With seven freshmen joining the team, a class that ranked sixth nationally in Mike Flynn’s Blue Star Report, the Hoyas will have plenty of depth.

With the losses of forward Kieraah Marlow, center Aminata Diop and guard Brina Pollack – three of the team’s top four scorers who accounted for 69 starts between them – Georgetown will need to find new leaders on the court.

“We have seven new players and eight returners,” Head Coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “We’re starting over and looking at it as a whole new season.”

That’s where the junior class comes in. Point guard Shanice Fuller, shooting guard Meredith Cox, guard Kenya Kirkland and guard/forward Jaleesa Butler all have significant experience over the past two years.

Butler is the top scorer among returning players. Making 16 starts last season, Butler averaged 7.6 points and pulled in 5.4 rebounds per game. The 6-foot forward also averaged one block per game, tops on the team.

Cox and Fuller each averaged just under six points per game last season. Cox led the team in three-point shots made with 41, and Fuller was the team’s assist leader with 4.2 per game. Both guards showed an ability to step up in big games, scoring more points in Big East play than in the non-conference slate.

“Meredith and Shanice have both stepped up to be leaders,” Williams-Flournoy said.

Kirland, who only averaged 2.8 points in 15 minutes per game, is the team’s top defensive guard.

“All of the juniors have playing experience,” Williams-Flournoy said, adding they will be called upon to be leaders of the team. All three seniors on the team are transfers.

With the juniors filling the leadership roles, Williams-Flournoy said the team will need a joint effort to fill the hole left in the frontcourt by leading-scorer Marlow and the 6-foot-5 Diop.

“More than one person stepping in, the forwards will need to help each other out,” the coach said.

Joining Butler in the frontcourt will be 6-foot-2 senior Krystle Hatton. Last season, Hatton played 13 minutes a game, averaging 2.5 points, 2.8 rebounds and just under a block per game. Williams-Flournoy also tabbed freshman Amanda Reese, also 6-foot-2, to get minutes at center. Another 6-foot-2 post player, freshman Latia Magee, should contribute. Magee, a Jenks, Okla., native, was ranked in the top 100 in her high school class according to several recruiting Web sites.

“All seven freshmen come from winning programs, whether that is high school or AAU,” Williams-Flournoy said. “They have a winning air about them.”

Williams-Flournoy said she hopes all seven freshmen contribute immediately, though they are still adjusting to college basketball.

“They’re being freshmen,” she said when asked about if the new players are fitting in at practice. “They have some habits to break, but they’ll do fine.” Williams-Flournoy added the team as a whole is coming together nicely and developing a good chemistry.

Another important piece to the puzzle this year will be guard/forward Monica McNutt. The only sophomore on the team scored 5.4 points per game last year, making nine starts and appearing in all 29 games. Though McNutt may be a star in the making, Williams-Flournoy said for this year at least, she will only be called upon to play her part.

“I expect Monica to play her role,” Williams-Flournoy said. “Rebound, play defense and shoot.”

Georgetown’s players will not speak to the media until the season begins, per the athletic department’s rules.

Picked to finish 11th in the Big East, Georgetown will look to improve upon last year’s 5-11 league mark. The regular season opens up on Sunday at Jacksonville State.

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