<em>College Basketball: </em> Magical Season for USP Women
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - It's been a season to remember for the University of the Sciences women's basketball team. The Division II Devils are 20-5 and just had a school-record 14-game winning streak snapped.
The architect of this success is second-year head coach Paul Stadelberger, who is proud of what his squad has accomplished thus far.
"I knew we had a good team, I really did," he told KYW Newsradio. "I had five seniors that I brought in, a whole new system coming in here, and they knew what we wanted to try to do. They grasped what we wanted to try to do and picked up the system and said, 'OK, we can do this.' They believed in what I wanted to do and they worked hard to do it."
Hear the entire Paul Stadelberger interview in this CBS Philly SportsPod...
Podcast
The Devils went 12-15 a year ago. What helped to flip the switch this season?
"I think our team defense has been tremendous all year," says Stadelberger. "We've been able to do a lot of different things. Some teams we've been playing some zones against them and other teams we've been playing man-to-man. Either way, it doesn't matter -- I think our kids have been playing real well."
That defense has indeed been stifling. USP is holding opponents to 34 percent shooting from the field and 55 points per game. At the other end, the Devils are led by senior Caitlin Shaw, who is averaging 20 points and nearly ten rebounds per game.
The Devils are ranked seventh in this week's Division II East Region Poll, and they will wrap up the regular season on Saturday at Post University. They will be the #2 seed in South Division in the upcoming CACC Tournament.
Reported by Matt Leon, KYW Newsradio 1060.
