Clinton women look to take next step with 'invested' group

PLATTSBURGH — Donna Dixon-Vosh believes Clinton Community College women’s basketball is headed in the right direction.

In her second year back at the helm of the Cougars, Dixon-Vosh is continuing to rebuild the Clinton program and knows she has the right players on her 2019-2020 squad who can help keep those efforts going.

“We picked up a couple kids this year that we really wanted,” Dixon-Vosh said. “The kids on the team right now are invested in the program, and they are invested in the college.

“The college is going places. We have a lot of cool things going on.

“If people really think about it, you have the opportunity to play college basketball, get your education and pay less here at Clinton. Those top three things are what I tell kids all the time.”

The Cougars feature a seven-player roster with three returners and four newcomers.

The three returners include Avery Lambert, Juliana Gardner and Abigail Webb, while Paige Chilton, Tiona Parker, Brittney LaValley and Abigail Walton are all in their first seasons with Clinton.

“We have had some ups and downs in numbers this year, but we have a solid seven, and I am very excited to see what they can do,” Dixon-Vosh said.

“I am excited to see how they progress this year. We will probably be more competitive than we were last year. It’s a numbers game still. As long as we stay healthy, I think we will be competitive.”

Dixon-Vosh expects Clinton to be more aggressive on offense, citing how the Cougars were a bit tentative to shoot the ball last year and struggled to score.

Clinton plans to be more aggressive on the offensive end and will also be focusing on limiting opponents’ transition opportunities.

“Defensively, we will be strong once we start to click a bit more,” Dixon-Vosh said. “We are going to have to be deliberate in what we do. We are not going to be fast.

“If we can get the ball into a half-court set, we can create excellent opportunities to put the ball in the hoop.”

The Cougars finished last season 3-15 and opened up this year with an 82-39 loss to Herkimer.

Clinton is back in action at 2 p.m. Saturday to take on Finger Lakes Community College at home.

“It’s the beginning stages,” Dixon-Vosh said. “I think some of our top strengths will be that we will play better defense and have good chemistry.

“If we make teams play our game, we will be in games. We just have to stop teams in transition. That’s going to be the top concern.”

Email Joey LaFranca:

jlafranca@pressrepublican.com

Twitter: @JoeyLaFranca

ROSTER

Number Name Year Hometown

4 Tiona Parker Fr. Freeport

10 Juliana Gardner So. Altona

11 Abigail Webb So. Peru

15 Abigail Walton Fr. AuSable

23 Avery Lambert So. Ellenburg

31 Paige Chilton Fr. Ellenburg

45 Brittney LaValley Fr. Ellenburg