Oct. 29—Kourtney Grossman was nonetheless a recruit, not a roster member, when the Jap Washington girls’s basketball workforce went to the NCAA Match in 2024.
However she acknowledges that she has benefited from what trickled down from that 12 months’s Eagles workforce.
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“It was undoubtedly the tradition that they left,” she mentioned. “That they had a tradition of accountability. It was enjoyable to see how that works in and out, and realizing that despite the fact that we’re completely different gamers, it is the identical system.”
Grossman is now in her third 12 months in that system underneath sixth-year EWU head coach Joddie Gleason. Picked by the media and coaches to complete fourth this season within the 11-team Huge Sky Convention, the Eagles are on the lookout for their first successful season since that 2023-24 event workforce.
With 4 returning starters from final 12 months’s squad that went 15-18 general and 7-11 in Huge Sky play, the Eagles are assured they are going to take the subsequent step ahead as a program.
“We’re approaching (this season) with fairly a bit of fireside, realizing we’ve lots of people returning,” Grossman mentioned. “Each workforce is optimistic, however for us, specializing in what we will do for the workforce is a giant emphasis.”
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Grossman’s most notable contribution has been in rebounding. She had 415 final 12 months, a Huge Sky single-season file and essentially the most by an Eagles participant since 1979, when Maria Loos grabbed a program-record 422.
Together with Grossman, the Eagles return 4 of their prime 5 scorers, led by sophomore Elyn Bowers, who averaged 14.8 factors final season. Junior Jaecy Eggers (11.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and redshirt junior Caitie Gingras (4.6 ppg, 30% on 3s) are all anticipated again as starters.
The Eagles additionally return junior Emily McElmurry and Madeline Gibbs, two rotation gamers a 12 months in the past who ought to see elevated roles.
“We misplaced an excellent core group of seniors final 12 months: 4 who have been right here for 4 years, and that is distinctive on this day in age,” Gleason mentioned. “But it surely’s thrilling to see (this group’s) management. It is cool to see the reins get handed over to them. Now it is their program they usually can put their stamp on it.”