As preseason accolades continue to mount for the 2002-2003 women's basketball team, perhaps no player is better prepared to handle the high expectations than senior guard Sheana Mosch.
Mosch, a returning captain and one of only two seniors on a young but very talented team, helped lead the Blue Devils last year to an undefeated ACC season and a birth in the NCAA Final Four in San Antonio, Texas. Despite that success, she was devastated by her team's loss to Oklahoma and is hungrier than ever to lead Duke to its first national championship.
"It seems like last year Sheana took the loss particularly hard," tri-captain and fellow senior Michele Matyasovsky said. "But she worked hard on her mental aspect of the game over the summer. I knew she was really upset and went through a rough time, but she is playing really well now and looking forward to the season."
Mosch, one of the most explosive players on the team, has used her strong driving ability to average nearly 10 points per game over her three-year Duke career. She has demonstrated a soft shooting touch by leading the team in free-throw percentage each season, and needs only nine more points to become just the 17th player in Duke history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
Although her scoring numbers are solid, Mosch has shown glimpses of offensive brilliance--including a Duke-record 106 points during a four-game stretch as a sophomore--that head coach Gail Goestenkors would like to see even more of this year.
"We talked at the end of last season, and I said that I wanted her to have a great year because she deserves it," Goestenkors said. "We want her to play with confidence. When she second-guesses herself, she's not very effective. We're just trying to get her to feel comfortable. I've told her that she always has the green light to shoot."
While Mosch's confidence will certainly be a key for Duke this season, her most important contribution to the team may be her leadership ability.
The Blue Devils boast one of the most talented teams in the nation, but they will need their top-ranked freshman class to perform up to lofty expectations. The transition from high school superstar to top-level collegiate player can be challenging, but after averaging 31.3 points and 15.4 rebounds as a high school senior, Mosch understands the necessary adjustments that must be made at this level.
"I know one of my biggest roles as a senior is to be a leader," Mosch said. "It is difficult when you have five freshmen because I know they are learning so much every single day. They need upperclassmen that have been there before to support them and talk them through things. That is one of my biggest roles."
So far, the freshmen have responded well to Mosch and have fed off of her intense work ethic.
"Sheana has been really great," freshman guard Jessica Foley said. "She always knows the right thing to say to you, she knows whether you're doing something wrong and she knows what to expect of people in the weight room. She is just really good at getting the best out of you and getting you to work as hard as she does."
Mosch has earned similar praise from Goestenkors.
"Sheana has shown great leadership and she's really helping the freshmen along," Goestenkors said. "Both Sheana and Michele have said that they want to win the national championship as seniors, so this is their last shot and they want to do whatever is necessary for us to be successful."
With 12 players on this year's team, Mosch and many of the other returnees may have to settle for fewer minutes than they had last year when there were only eight women on the squad.
"Every single year I feel we get disappointed at the end," she said. "Failure is the greatest form of motivation for myself. Especially last year, because we had the highest intentions for succeeding and wanting to win the national championship. So when we fell short, it was like lighting a match on fire. It made us want it even more. This is my last chance--I do not want to fall short again."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.