BOCA RATON, Fla. - Lynn women's basketball head coach Julia "Coach Hudd" Tucker has a tough but welcome challenge ahead of her: improving on last season's record-setting campaign. Coach Hudd's 2022-23 team set a school record for wins (23) and reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time in program history.
The Fighting Knights head coach relishes the challenge. "We set the standard last year, right? I don't ever want to look backwards but the standard is to get to where we were last year and take it a step further. The NCAA tournament is on our radar but it's a long process to get there," Coach Hudd said.
The process starts with getting the five returners from that record-setting season to gel with six new Fighting Knights. Among the returning student-athletes are Ella Fiore, Makayla Hemingway, Marianna Klavina, Danielle Montelbano and Rachel Romich.
Fiore, who earned All-SSC Honorable Mention honors last season, averaged 12.8 points per game on 55.7% shooting and 1.8 steals per game. "Ella is our heart as far as how hard she plays," Coach Hudd said. "She's super gritty, which is something we put a lot of emphasis on. She obviously can score but her motor is unmatched." The junior has the rare ability to shoot high percentages while contributing three-pointers, rebounds and steals.
Hemingway can play any position, providing Coach Hudd with a commodity any coach would want. "She knows what passes to make, can knock down a three or post up and is a really a Swiss army knife," she said of the junior. In limited minutes last season, Hemingway scored in double-digits six times.
Klavina played 14 minutes per game a season ago and was a perfect 14-for-14 from the free throw line. At 5'10, she can guard multiple positions and averaged 2.3 steals and 5.6 rebounds per 40 minutes in 2022-23. Coach Hudd praised "Mari's basketball IQ, toughness, and versatility that allows her to play several positions."
Montelbano will be assuming main ball-handling duties. The senior shot 55% from the field last year and plays a style that Coach Hudd highly values. "She can facilitate but also put her head down and score. She understands it's 'we' over 'me' and communicates really well, so having that coach on the floor is extremely helpful," she stated.
Romich, the 2022-23 SSC Freshman of the Year, is a career 40% three-point shooter (60-for-150) and has made 81% of her attempts at the charity stripe. "While Rachel is able space the floor, knock down shots and defend one of the opponents' best players, she is more importantly a big culture person for us," Coach Hudd stated. "She knows what I want on and off the court and can be that calm within the crazy."
Lynn added three transfer graduate students to the roster, all of whom are at least six-feet tall, in Taylor Boruff, Bella Sparaco and Carly Stroemel. According to the Fighting Knights' head coach, Boruff "can space the floor and is a mismatch because of her size." Both Boruff and Sparaco are listed at 6'0" but they play a different type of game. "Taylor can shoot the three or post up if she has a smaller guard on her. Bella is more of a 4/5 and is as close to Ella (Fiore) as far as how hard she plays," Coach Hudd said. "Carly is a post-presence that wants to score and can mix it up inside and out."
Incoming freshmen include Ava Byrne, Alana Francis and Trinity Mocadlo. Coach Hudd said that Mocadlo "can handle the ball, is extremely athletic and will compliment Dani (Montelbano) well," while Francis "has nice size and length and is a fast learner."
Coach Hudd knows what it takes to compete and succeed in the SSC. "Number one is always come in and be ready to work hard. Our conference, no matter who you're playing, is a dog fight every night," she said. "Second thing is sticking to our offensive and defensive culture, which is something that we did well last year by understanding that it's 'we' over 'me' and that we share the ball. Finally, it's making sure that our defense has improved. We have to focus on starting the season with the same type of defensive effort that we applied later in the year a season ago." The Lynn staff is optimistic that this year's team can improve on last year's 60.7 average points against, which ranked second in the Sunshine State Conference.
The anticipation for the upcoming season is almost over. The Fighting Knights open the 2023-24 year with back-to-back games on November 10 and 11 for the SSC/GSC Basketball Crossover Tournament, hosted by Barry. Lynn plays Shorter (Ga.) on Friday and Christian Brothers on Saturday. Tip-off for both games are scheduled for noon.
