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November 28, 2009

Cassidy sees it as learning experience

By COURTNEY LEWIS

DID YOU KNOW?


You can look back over the last 70 years at some of the area athletes and personalities who made headlines in area sports. Flashback will revive memories of great local athletes and outstanding team successes.

Against Baruch last weekend, Catherine Cassidy had twice as many turnovers as assists and didn't score after halftime.

Plattsburgh State coach Cheryl Cole said the point guard was rattled by Baruch's pressure defense, and Cole kept pulling her out of the game to try to settle her down.

Cassidy is trying to take something from that experience.

"That was a big eye-opener for me," Cassidy said. "You need games like that because it's just a learning experience, and it's going to help us when we get into our SUNYAC games.

"Being a freshman, I guess I wasn't expecting that (pressure). But I'll be ready next time for anything. I know I will."

Cole said Cassidy has already shown leadership and, while the coach expected some growing pains, she said the freshman has nothing but potential.

The Cardinals play another nonconference game today at Clarkson.

Cassidy stands 5 feet, 5 inches and has been dubbed "Brooklyn" by her teammates after her hometown and her accent.

She has started all three of the Cardinals' games at the point and averaged a team-high 30.7 minutes per game. She has scored 9.3 points per game and leads the team in assists and steals — and turnovers. The day before the loss to Baruch, she dished out 11 assists and scored 14 in a win over Albany Pharmacy.

"I think my role is just to keep everyone in check," Cassidy said. "Make sure we have our offense, we're talking, spreading it out. And just keep communicating and try to lead them through that."

Cassidy adds a little more offense at the position than her predecessor, Megan Lynch, a defensive specialist who played four years for the Cardinals.

Cole said learning to play point guard at the collegiate level takes time for any freshman.

"She's a tough kid," Cole said. "So I'm sure she beat herself up over (the Baruch game). But she's a kid that's not going to make the same mistakes twice. She's going to correct things and keep getting better. She's a hard worker.

"She's talking out there. She has already taken leadership on the floor. With the good will come the bad for a while, until she gets more experience. It's not easy to be the freshman point guard."

For today's game, Cole is more concerned about Plattsburgh State's defense than its offense. The Cardinals (1-2) gave up 110 points to Baruch and have averaged 81.3 points allowed.

"Defensively, we've just got to be stronger," Cole said. "We can't let people shoot 57 percent on us and can't be giving up astronomical amounts of points."

Clarkson has averaged just 49 points per game in its three losses. The Golden Knights faced another SUNYAC team, Potsdam, in their opener and fell 56-52.

Forward Michelle Reddinger leads Clarkson with 13 points and 7-3 rebounds per night.

E-mail Courtney Lewis at: clewis@pressrepublican.com

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