Nitzan Amar taking a finishing a layup in a victory against Marist College. The final score of the game was 60-54 in favor of the Jaspers.
GOJASPERS / COURTESY
By Isaiah Rosario, Sports Editor
The Lady Jaspers started their season out with a bang, averaging 57.2 points per game and allowing 52.4 points per game to opponents. Those stats play important dividends to their hot start as they are second in the MAAC behind Fairfield University.
The Lady Jaspers’ record stands 13-4 overall and 6-2 in MAAC play and are currently riding a four-game winning streak. Nitzan Amar is the leading scorer for the Lady Jaspers, averaging 10.2 points per game.
“It feels very good,” Amar said about their start to the season. “We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. We know what we are worth and we’re still working hard. We still stay humble.”
On the defensive end, Leyla Ozturk is leading the Jaspers in blocks per game with 1.4 blocks per game. With steals, Petra Juric is leading the Jaspers in steals per game with 1.7 steals per game.
These great defensive stats have paid dividends for the Jaspers as they are the fifth-ranked defense in Division I Women’s Basketball.
“It feels good,” Amar said when discussing being a top 5 defense in the country. “We know what we’re worth, [we are] working really hard. For our defense watching the film, and we’re working on this on the court. Since the summer, it was our emphasis for the season and we are shining.”
In the previous two MAAC championship games, the Jaspers have allowed 73 points in both matchups, which was heartbreaking for Jasper head coach Heather Vulin as the Jaspers have always been a defensive-minded team.
Vulin made sure to emphasize to the team this year that a repeat of previous seasons would not happen again.
Vulin gave high praise to associate head coach Callan Stores about inputting a great defensive mindset to the team this year. On July 31, it was announced that Stores was promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach.
“Coach Callan Stores on our staff, she’s our defensive coordinator has done a phenomenal job,” Vulin said. “Just breaking down the defense in practice to make sure that they’re creating that muscle memory.”
At this point in the 2022-2023 season, the Jaspers were 6-11 overall, and 3-5 in MAAC play. Players are noticing the major difference between this season’s team and last season’s team.
Last season the team began to click in late February and early March heading into the MAAC championships. This year’s team seemed to find their groove and identity from the start and it could be a result of all the fresh faces on the team.
“I think this year, it’s different types of players all around,” Juric said. “It’s a different feeling on the court as well, it’s a team who likes to pass the ball more, and play more as a team.”
One flaw that the Jaspers need to improve on if they want to make a March Madness appearance is turnovers. The Jaspers are averaging 16.5 turnovers per game.
When it comes to a high-stakes environment, it is important to emphasize taking care of the ball. Points on turnovers have been a major factor for many teams on the collegiate and professional levels to make deep runs in conference tournaments and playoffs.
“We do know [turnovers are] a problem,” Juric said. “We do know we need to work on it. It is a work in progress. Before every game we’re aware of that, we’re trying to limit our turnovers and we’re just hoping to work on it and fix it for the next games.”
With consistent winning comes a lot of celebration. The celebration period between games can often be a distraction to some teams.
During practices, coach Vulin makes sure that the team stays focused on improving for the next game and making sure the opponent does not get the upper hand on them.
Vulin noted that during some practices she needed to get on the team a little bit harder to make sure that they did not get comfortable.
“I think for us to be successful this year we need to have an edge every practice, every game,” Vulin said. “We just got to worry about the next opponent and that the next opponent wants to kick our butt. I’ve got a good mature group of young ladies that are committed and excited about this team as much as I am.”
Editor Note: The article was written before the Jaspers matchup with Iona on Jan. 27.