The Bishop Ireton Lady Cardinal basketball team is off to an impressive 8-1 start in the 2005 season. Ireton, led by first-year head coach Mike Hutton and Cynthia Small (second season as assistant), defeated both Episcopal 72-25 and T.C. Williams 58-54 enroute to winning the Alexandria City Championship to start the season.

"One of our strengths this season is that we can really handle the ball and we can shoot it from the perimeter" said coach Hutton (also both the boys and girls tennis coach).

In addition, the Lady Cardinals have defeated: Manassas Park 83-21, Calvary Christian 75-8, Georgetown Visitation 55-45, Flint Hill 45-42, Mercy (Baltimore) 58-36 and St. Catherine's (Richmond) 53-35.

The "Cardinal and Gold's" lone setback was a 54-51 loss to St. Anne's Belfield (Charlottesville) on December 17 at the Georgetown Visitation Invitational (GVI).

Despite the loss, Ireton rebounded on December 18 with their win versus St. Catherine's to place third overall in the GVI (St. Anne's Belfield placed first amongst the eight teams at the Invitational).

Three-year starter/junior shooting guard Becky Fernandes is once again leading the Lady Cardinals offensively this season. The tri-captain has poured in 149 points [of the teams combined 552 points] after nine games to lead the Cardinals with an average of 16.6 points per game.

"Becky really sets the tone for the game. She is very valuable both defensively and offensively. Defensively, she puts pressure on the ball and disrupts the opposing team’s offense. Offensively, she really has a scorer's mentality. She looks to attack the basket and she can also knock down the trey," said Hutton.

Currently junior guard/tri-captain Shaniece Roseborough is injured or she would be starting. When she played in the first two games, Roseborough poured in 36 points to lead the team in scoring.

Due to Roseborough's injury and in addition to Fernandes, the other four starting positions are generally manned by five different players (depending on the situation).

Senior post/tri-captain Kristen Filler leads the team in rebounds and has averaged six points per game.

"Kristen's purpose out there is to defend and rebound. We try to limit the opposing team to one shot. She doesn't need to score a whole lot," said Hutton.

Junior "small forward" Christina Franz is second on the team in scoring (nearly 9.0 points per game and has also rebounded well).

"I feel that we can go pretty far this season. Coach Hutton is working us real hard on the fundamentals. He knows the game real well. He's letting all of the players develop - the starters and the reserves all are playing [a number of minutes]" said Franz.

Junior "power forward" Gwen Holdgreiwe is averaging nearly four points per game and has rebounded well.

"We've been playing together real well. We're going to continue to get better as the season goes on. One of our team goals is to beat O'Connell this season," said Holdgreiwe.

Either sophomore Chrissy Sborz or freshman Rachel Martin usually "runs" with Fernandes in the guard rotation.

Sborz, also a standout softball pitcher, has averaged nearly nine points per game after returning from an early season injury. Martin averages 6.5 points per game.

Other key players include: seniors Courtney Cleaves and Sheba Newman-Blount, junior Cristina Piccinino, sophomore Alli Cleaves and freshman Mary Cate Curry.

Despite coming off of the bench these five players have combined for 104 points on the season.

"I've been very pleased with the depth on the team and I've been impressed with the players’ ability to share the ball. Our team chemistry has been very good thus far," said Hutton.

Ireton plays at the Pallotti Invitational Dec. 22-23 and hosts arch-rival Paul VI on Jan. 4 to usher in the New Year and begin its very competitive WCAC schedule.