By LadySwish contributor Bob Flynn
The records and accolades have been mounting for what now is William & Mary’s senior class since the players’ first season in Williamsburg.
Those began with the school’s first postseason bid (a first-round loss to Xavier in the WBI in 2015), and has continued with a 28-5 record in nonconference games the past three seasons. And the Tribe is coming off one of the most impressive seasons in school history. Among the accomplishments last season:
- Their first CAA tournament win since 2009
- Their first CAA tournament semifinal appearance since 2001
- A program record-tying 20-win season
- Their best record after 11 games (10-1)
Those feats also led to countless CAA weekly and season awards, and have the three seniors on the squad on the verge of becoming the winningest class in school history. Heading into the CAA regular-season opener Dec. 29 at the College of Charleston, Abby Rendle, Jenna Green and Jeanne Gaumont have amassed 59 wins, three short of the record set by the Class of 2009. (The numbers might be even more impressive if not for an injury to Rendle her sophomore season. The Tribe were 12-5 with her and 3-10 without her.) In the four seasons before this year’s seniors arrived, the Tribe had just 29 wins.
For Tribe coach Ed Swanson, it’s easy to pick out the most impressive of all those stats, awards and numbers. It’s the win total.
“That says it all. It really does,” he said. “W&M has had basketball for … I think next year is going to be the 100th year. I mean that really says it all. It’s in the numbers right there.”
Swanson, who was named the program’s coach May 7, 2013, said the three had extra pressure on them because they were his first recruits with the Tribe.
“It’s hard being the first recruiting class of a new coach, at any level,” Swanson said. “The players that you have in your program (might say) ‘Oh these are the coach’s recruits.’ That’s what’s in the back of players’ minds. I think they’ve handled it admirably. They’ve done a fantastic job, obviously, on and off the floor.”
Timing and luck played roles in Rendle and Green coming to W&M. Rendle, a 6-foot-4 center from Reston, Va., was being recruited by Swanson at his previous school.
“(Coach) Swanson originally recruited me at Sacred Heart and I went to visit there and I didn’t like the school,” Rendle said. “It wasn’t really a good fit for me, but I liked the coaching staff so when he recruited me here … .”
Abby Rendle
Rendle and Green, a 5-7 guard from Clifton, Va., played on the same AAU team, and Green caught Swanson’s eye when he was recruiting Rendle. However, he wasn’t looking for a point guard in that recruiting class because three were already on the roster.
“I kept telling all my friends you have to recruit this kid Jenna Green,” he said. “She’s got a motor. She doesn’t stop. She’s a leader.”
Then one day while checking in with his assistants, they told him that while they had three point guards on the roster, they didn’t have one that fit his preferred style of play.
“So my next call after that was (to) Jenna Green,” he said.
While Rendle and Green both were recruited in the summer period, Gaumont, a 6-0 guard/forward from Quebec, Canada, didn’t come into the fold until later in the year.
“Jeanne was a little bit different,” Swanson said. “We got involved with her in the fall and we saw Jeanne play in a tournament in Rhode Island and we really liked her.”
Rendle and Green have been in the starting lineup almost from Day 1, while Gaumont fills a need off the bench, although she did start 13 games her sophomore season and is averaging more than 10 minutes a game this season.
“They got thrown into the fire right away,” Swanson said. “It’s an adjustment. You are away from home for the first time, the course load is different, the coaches are different.”
In the CAA preseason poll their freshman year, they were predicted to finish eighth out of 10 teams. The next year sixth, then fifth and third this season.
“All three of them have helped change the expectations of the program. They have really helped change the culture of the program,” Swanson said.
Rendle is averaging 13.3 points and 8.2 rebounds this year, both career highs. She has 55 blocks and has become the W&M career leader and the CAA career leader in that category. Green is averaging a career-high 11.7 points and has 72 assists, with a chance to become the school’s career assists leader. Gaumont doesn’t have the stats of her fellow classmates, but has played big roles that don’t show up on the stat sheet.
“Jeanne has been very receptive coming off the bench to give us that shot in the arm,” Swanson said. “We lost two leading scorers from last year’s team, and players I thought would step up have stepped up.”
Jeanne Gaumont
But it was something Gaumont did off the court that has impressed Swanson this season.
“Jeanne had ankle surgery in October so she missed the first three games of the season. But she was back in two weeks. Just those little things are very inspirational not only to myself but to the players and the team.”
Other intangibles have been the key to the success of the senior class.
“We are all really close,” said Rendle, who added that has helped with the chemistry on the court.
Gaumont agreed: “I think our class was led by great upper classmates since our freshman year. Also, Abby, Jenna and I are all on the same page and we have a great chemistry.”
But Green said it was more than that.
“I think we have worked hard and I think we have earned it,” she said. “All year-round we are working, we are in the gym … and we’ve had a ton of new (assistant) coaches come in and have been super helpful. I think it’s just the work we have put in and the time that we’ve put in (that) has contributed to our success mainly.”
This year’s team however, isn’t just the three of them. In addition to Rendle and Green, two others are averaging in double figures: junior guard Bianca Boggs (16.0) and sophomore forward Victoria Reynolds (12.5). Also, sophomore guard Nari Garner is averaging 8.0, and freshman guard Nyla Pollard has started every game and is averaging 6.2 points. W&M lost its two leading scorers from last year’s team (Marlena Tremba and Alex Masaquel), so they needed contributions from everyone.
“Losing them was definitely difficult, but we’ve adjusted well,” Green said. “We’ve had to have some new people come in and do some things.”
Said Rendle: “People have stepped up and taken on bigger roles. I think now the scoring is more distributed throughout the team, which makes us better and harder to stop five people instead of just two or three.”
Swanson said the personality of the team is another key to its 9-2 nonconference mark this season.
“This team is special because I don’t think they really care who gets the credit. They’re very unselfish.”
There still is the conference season to go this year, and possibly more records, awards and milestones. But for Swanson, it will be tough for him to top his first W&M recruiting class.
“They have been all that we thought they would be,” he said.
Year Non-conference CAA (place) Postseason Overall
2014-15 6-5 9-9 (Sixth) 0-1 in CAA; 0-1 in WBI 15-16
2015-16 9-2 6-12 (Seventh) 0-1 in CAA 15-15*
2016-17 10-1 9-9 (fifth) 1-1 in CAA (lost in semis) 20-11
2017-18 9-2 ??? ??? ???
* 12-5 before Abby Rendle’s season-ending injury and 3-10 after.