The College of Wooster women’s basketball team is preparing for its second season under head coach Olivia Besancon and right out of the gate they take a trip to Bowling Green State University for an exhibition game against the Division I Falcons.
      It will be everyone’s first look at the new Fighting Scots who come in with some added depth and a focus on speed, rebounding and getting to the paint.
      Besancon has supplied Wooster with its largest roster in quite some time. Nineteen players make up the roster with seven first-years and a junior newcomer, Abby Henegar, from the women’s soccer team.
      “We’re all there to compete and push each other, but at the end of the day, we’re one team” Besancon said. “Our added depth has raised the intensity at practices. You’re going against quality players, and you’re having to work harder.”
      Helping lead the way is sophomore Mackenzie Riccitelli. Riccitelli was the first Fighting Scot to be named the conference’s Newcomer of the Year since 2007, and she hasn’t taken that for granted.
      “She was someone who came in and was ready to go,” Besancon said. “She’s been a good leader and has started to embrace that role a little bit more this fall.”
      Riccitelli led the team and was third in the NCAC averaging 16.6 points per game. Her 416 points also was seventh in program history for a single season, and she sits first with a .843 career free throw percentage (75-89).
      Time will tell what the added depth will do for her this season, but Besancon thinks it will elevate her game leading to better decision making and shot selection.
      “There’s more around her this year, and she shouldn’t have to play the huge minutes she did,” Besancon said. “She has a lot more ball handlers around her, and that will lessen her load and allow her to improve in some other areas.”
      Prior to Wooster, Riccitelli was a two-time All-Ohio special mention at Boardman High School. She was All American Conference player of the year as a senior when she averaged 18.5 points per game and was a 1,000-point scorer playing for Head Coach Jeff Hammerton.
      Mackenzia is the daughter of Kara and Donald Riccitelli, of Green Garden Dr. She is an education and mathematics major and physical education minor.