By Ed Morrone

As a rookie head coach in the much-improved CAA, Krista Kilburn-Steveskey certainly had a challenge on her hands. After winning 26 games and guiding her women’s basketball team to a berth in the WNIT quarterfinals, consider it mission accomplished.

Now with the loss of four seniors, the coach can get ready for more challenges ahead.

Gone from the program are Cigi McCollin, Lizanne Murphy, Vanessa Gidden and Lana Harshaw, 80 percent of the Pride’s starting lineup and the four women who will now be known as the winningest senior class in program history.

In their place next year will be mostly youth, comprised of role players from this year’s team as well as a few highly touted incoming recruits.

At first glance, it appears the leaders of next year’s squad will be Niki Williams and Sam Brigham, both of whom had success in roles that consisted mostly of ball-handling and defense. Now with the team’s four leading scorers gone, Williams and Brigham will most likely be asked to step up their offensive games quite a bit, something that does not keep Kilburn-Steveskey tossing and turning at night.

“I’m excited,” Kilburn-Steveskey said. “Sure, we’ll have players that are unproven, but they bring in a [strong] work ethic. These young kids are very coachable.”

Along with Williams and Brigham entrenched in the backcourt, sophomore guard Natty Fripp is also likely to see plenty of minutes. In the frontcourt, Harmonie Calinda and Kristina Campbell will bring a strong rebounding and defensive presence. And of course the five incoming freshmen-Aamira Terry, Britne Rodgers, Candice Bellocchio, Ashley Wilcots and Isoken Uzamere-will be thrown right into the mix, and Kilburn-Steveskey said she expects the new players to produce “contributing minutes.”

And while it won’t be easy, the woman her players call “Coach K” is looking forward to another new challenge.

“One of the biggest things I will be preaching is that when the world turns its back on you, you have to have vision. Our team will have vision, and when everyone counts us out, we’ll stay tight and keep working to get better. We’ll get better and we expect to contend.”