DENVER, Colo. – From being picked seventh in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Coaches Preseason Poll this time last year, to their first sweep of the RMAC regular season and tournament titles since 2007, the Regis University women's basketball team has continued to chase excellence.
Now they're looking to finish what they started.
Last year, the Rangers earned their first NCAA South Central Regional bid since 2016-2017, but had an earlier-than-anticipated exit. Regis women's basketball head coach Molly Marrin knows that the confidence from last season's historic run can be what takes this team even further this year.
"We've got confidence. I think knowing that we were able to get to regionals and also knowing that we're hungry for more because that trip didn't end the way we wanted it to. I think with the belief in that, and any time you have 12 returners coming off a championship team is really unique. On top of that, our core group has been playing together for three years now. And trust me, I say my blessings every day for that. Now, I think it's just us trying to capitalize on our success and grow as a unit and continue to build our confidence knowing that we can get there."
Returners
Regis will continue to be a player-led program in 2023-2024, with the luxury of returning 12 players from last year, including four starters. Marrin expects no less from the experienced veterans that are back with the program.
One of those four players is Erin Fry as she returns as the reigning 2022-2023 RMAC Player of the Year. Fry's accolades also include being named a WBCA All-American Honorable Mention, a First Team All-South Central Region member, and the RMAC Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
The McKinney-native had a historic performance last season as she recorded the program's first triple-double since at least 2003 while posting 4.8 APG and 15.7 PPG on the season. She also shot a team-high 40.7% from beyond the arc and visited the charity stripe a staggering 216 times, with 70.4% of those shots finding their mark.
"I'm expecting Fry to step up and continue to be aggressive and continue to be a threat. Her defense has improved, she really wants to facilitate and get everyone involved," said Marrin. "We know what a huge impact she makes on our program, both on and off the court."
Add in one of the conference's top rebounders in Sam Deem, a top turnover-generator in Josey Ryan, and one of the RMAC's top shooters in Athena Saragoza, and the Rangers quickly become a threat from both ends of the floor.
Ryan, a graduate student guard from La Vista, Neb. started all 31 games last season and led with a team-high 58 steals and third in defensive rebounds (126). Offensively, Ryan finished second in points per game (13.1) while being one of the most aggressive in the paint with 344 field goal attempts.
"Josey is getting better offensively and defensively. Defensively off the ball she's got great awareness there so she's playing at a higher level," said Marrin. I've asked her to be more vocal, and she's really stepped up in that. It's not something that comes natural to her, but she wants to win and wants the program to win."
Deem, a Thornton-native, is a versatile forward who finished second on the team in total rebounds (214) and averaged 6.7 boards per game. In addition to her work on the glass, Deem was a problem for most opposing offenses as she collected 22 blocks throughout the season.
"She was versatile last year but she's adding new tools to the toolkit so that's been fun to watch," said Marrin. "Just seeing her play confidently, fluidly, the ball is moving through her well. She's stepped up for everything, she's ready to go."
Saragoza, a lethal three-point shooter from Santa Barbara, CA, finished with the fifth-best three-point field goal percentage (32.8%) in the RMAC. Her time in the NCAA South Central Regional game was cut short due to injury, but Marrin says she's come back better than before.
"Athena has just come back light and bouncy and hype man and competitive," said Marrin. "She's playing with a ton of confidence, she's putting the extra work in, throwing some no-look passes and some other fun things. It's just awesome to see her with a lighter spirit. She's having a ton of fun."
The remaining eight returners boast several playmakers from last year's squad, including senior guard Madison Diercks, a player that grabbed a total of 102 rebounds and averaged 4.1 points per game off the bench, as well as graduate student forward Sydney Speights, who is expected to take on a larger role this year.
"Our approach doesn't change. We talk about how there's seasons, there's teams, and then there's programs. We talk about ourselves as a program. So what does having players that came back for their graduate year look like? They don't want their grad year to look like their senior year," said Marrin. "So not only getting a year better as a team, but what impact do they want to have on the program? That's just really striving for excellence and what our standards are. Our standards are extremely high now and we've raised our goals. As far as our approach to it, we know it's a new season and we know there's new pressures, new noises, new targets on our backs or whatever it may be, but the focus is on us and we're striving for excellence."
Newcomers
Alongside a multi-tool group of veterans are three new faces to the Rangers, freshman Fiona Snashall, freshman Rachel George, and transfer Pearle Green.
Marrin wants her freshman to be coachable and to be able to take anything they're given and use it on the next rep. Her freshman don't have to have it all figured out, but all they have to focus on is getting better one thing at a time.
"The freshman really have one goal, and that's to get better. They don't get that as they get older. I just want them to be a sponge. You can see their eyes say "yes", they want to be coached and they're putting in extra work without being asked. They're doing everything we've asked them to do," said Marrin.
Snashall hails from California while George comes from Iowa. Green, on the other hand, traded extreme cold for a slightly milder winter as she transferred from the University of Alaska-Fairbanks last June.
Green is a proven scorer who averaged 14.8 points per game as a freshman in 2021-2022. George comes to Regis after a decorated high school career where she set the Centerville High School rebounding record with 743. Snashall is a 6-foot-2 wing forward with a versatile skill set.
"Fiona's tall, very talented, great basketball IQ, flashy, does some awesome things, and as she starts to get rotations in our system, I think she's going to be extremely fun to watch," said Marrin. "Rachel is a very smart and capable player. I mean, talk about coachability to apply it to the next rep. She'll screen, doesn't need the glory, gets people open. She's been a very nice glue for us as a freshman. Pearle's a deceptive, quiet player and it almost makes her mysterious and sneaky. She just somehow will have 12, 16 points at some point. The girls love to play with Pearl and she's going to be a weapon as well."
The three aren't the only new faces to the team as Marrin added Keeton Peery to her coaching staff this year. Peery spent five years as an assistant coach at Oklahoma Christian University as well as three seasons with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Peery's resume as a coach of the Lone Star Conference and working with a NBA team gives the team a new set of tools to work with. Given that the Lone Star Conference is in the South Central Region along with Regis, Peery's knowledge gives Marrin a better look at how those teams play.
"He's got great energy there and the girls love him. Being an assistant in the Lone Star Conference for five or six years, it's great. He just has that experience and can add different shooting drills. I think it's something that goes without being said, but I think having both Jason and Keeton, having a happy, energy-filled office with the same mission is great. He's hit the ground running and I'm super happy to have him," Marrin said.
Winning Off the Court
In addition to their goals on the court, Marrin points out that they want to have an impact off the court as well. For example, the Rangers want to earn the Brechler award, an award given by the RMAC to the team with the highest GPA in the conference.
"We finished in the top 10 in the country in community service hours last year. We want to be number one. We've got the obvious goals that every team has, but I think that shows the deeper character of our group," Marrin said. "Sometimes we start to find our success in other areas when we take a loss or have things don't go right on the court because we know we've done everything else right."
Looking Forward
The Rangers open their 2023-2024 season out in Golden, Colo. this weekend, competing in the DII Conference Challenge. Their first game is against St. Edward's University on Nov. 10 (11 a.m.), with another game against St. Mary's University on Saturday (10 a.m.).
Regis continues its six-game non-conference schedule with its home opener against Point Loma Nazarene University, on Nov. 18, scheduled for 3:30 PM. The Rangers will also take on the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (Nov. 20), and will square off against Montana State University-Billings and Cameron University in the Thanksgiving Classic.
"These regional games are extremely important. It's important for us and the RMAC as well. So we make sure that we have that challenging schedule," said Marrin. "We have MSU-Billings who finished in the top 25 last year and I think they were first in their region. It's a challenging schedule but having those regional games, we know every game matters. It gives our girls the focus to say 'there's no off games here.' Everything matters."
Following the Thanksgiving Classic, Regis jumps into RMAC play with a home game against Black Hills State University on Dec. 1. Tipoff time is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
When asked to summarize their mission for this season in a couple of words, Marrin didn't hesitate; the women are chasing excellence this year.
"We're chasing excellence. Now that I know what each player can do, and we know each other so well, we can push each other to be better," said Marrin. "So now it's about how do we continue to keep pushing each other when we know that we can give more? I think if we can do that and we put our focus into the process, then I think the results will turn out to be good."
