Monmouth women's basketball seeks March Madness return, as women's sports drive CAA transition
As Monmouth women’s basketball heads into the CAA Tournament as the No. 2 seed, looking to repeat after snapping a 40-year NCAA Tournament drought last season, one of the school’s marquee sports continues to lead the way since the school jumped to the league at the start of the 2022-23 season.
And its women’s sports in general that have thrived in the transition to their new home, with women’s soccer and field hockey having already won regular season titles.
“When I was interviewed for the SWA (Senior Women’s Administrator) position (in 2021), one of the most impactful meetings that I had was a Zoom call with all the women’s coaches here and was just like ‘wow, I’ve got to be part of that, that culture and group of coaches who are so professional,” said Jennifer Sansevero, who became the interim athletic director when Jeff Stapleton retired last June, with the interim tag removed two weeks ago.
Women’s basketball coach Ginny Boggess tells a similar story during her interview process, when she was plucked off the Penn State coaching staff in 2021.
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“I did a Zoom with the seven other women’s head coaches,” Boggess said. “And it was clear they wanted the women’s basketball players to have success like their players were having. And when you meet those kinds of leaders you realize they are so successful because they are brilliant, hard-working women who have been on their own journeys, successful ones, with a player-first mindset.
“These are people I want to be around every day. These are people I want to go to and seek council from as a new head coach and I could not be more impressed by all of them It’s just an incredible group.”
New Beginning
Boggess has quickly transformed a team that won two games the season before her arrival. Monmouth heads into the CAA Tournament at the Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, D.C. with a 21-8 record, riding a seven-game winning streak, having won 12 straight road games. With a double-bye, Monmouth opens in Friday’s quarterfinals (5 p.m.) against the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 7 Drexel and No. 10 Delaware.
A year ago, the Hawks won the CAA Tournament on their first try, winning four games in as many days as the seventh seed, beating each of the top three seeds along the way.
“She is special. We know it,’ Sansevero said. “To come here (taking over a two-win team) to winning the CAA (in year two) our first year with not one all-conference player. That definitely has something to do with preparation, coaching, buy-in, culture. All those things.
“Ginny has just breathed some new life into that program. She has re-engage alumni. She has invested in the community.”
This year, guard Jania Hall was named the CAA’s Sixth Player of the Year for her contributions off the bench. Kaci Donovan and Ariana Vanderhoop were named to the All-CAA third team, while center Belle Kranbuhl was named to the All-Defensive team. Donovan missed the final two games of the regular season, but Boggess said she is “hopeful” Donovan will be in the lineup Friday.
Graduate guard Bri Tinsley was the Most Outstanding Player at last year’s tournament in her only season with the program, while Vanderhoop scored 17 points in the championship game win over Towson.
“I think Ari had 14 points in the first half of the championship game, so she is not afraid of the bright lights. And Kaci Donovan is not,” Boggess said. “So one of our superpowers is we don’t have just one player you can completely focus on.”
Boggess indicated there could be an opportunity to play in the WNIT if they lose to top-seeded Stony Brook in the final as the No. 2 seed.
Shifting landscape
It's an incredibly challenging time for college athletics, with a rapidly shifting landscape that includes conference realignment, Name Image and Likeness issues and more.
“(Monmouth president) Dr. (Patrick) Leahy asked me ‘why would you ever want to be an athletic director right now?’ “ said Sansevero. “And my answer was ‘the mission is the same.’ It’s to discover and develop young people and make sure they are armed with the skillset they need to be productive members of society, and armed with a degree that will help them for the next 40 years. So that remains the same.
“I think resource constraints is definitely a concern. The fact that things change so quickly. The most recent decision up at Dartmouth, with the men’s basketball players being declared employees (of the university). That is a challenge. The new legislation, new litigation all of those things are potentially going to impact how we do things and how we operate and the structure of college athletics.”
Part of the changing business model includes NIL, now a priority for mid-major programs and Power 5 school’s alike. Monmouth started an NIL collective, the Fly Hawks Alliance, last year.
“You talk about NIL, you talked about resources and other schools having the resources, like Charleston has, to be competitive,” said Sansevero, with Charleston having won the CAA men’s basketball tournament for a second straight year Tuesday. “Our institution has to be prepared to invest and take the programs, especially the marquee programs, to the next level.”
For Sansevero, her two-decade journey through college athletics eventually returned her to her native Jersey Shore. The Hazlet native was a star athlete at Raritan High School, captained the softball team at Mount St. Mary’s, where she graduated in 2004 before earning a law degree at Widener University.
“Monmouth remains a close-knit community and being here and being back home and having my family be a part of it has really been special for me,” Sansevero said. “My daughter (Khloe) is 8 years old and comes to games. She was just with us last weekend at the men’s basketball tournament. I think she still has a piece of the net from cutting it down last year with Ginny’s team.
“My daughter is biracial so being able to be around student-athletes who look like her has also been a lifechanging experience, so that has been really cool. Her favorite player is Ari Vanderhoop. She has a headband just like Ari.”
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Monmouth NJ women's basketball seeks return trip to NCAA Tournament
