Turner, Thoroughbreds look to write a new chapter
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> The bench will look different Saturday afternoon for the Skidmore women’s basketball team, not only new faces in uniform, but the most notable will be those out of uniform at the end near the scorer’s table.
Jessica Turner enters as the new Thoroughbred coach, taking over for 14-year veteran coach Darren Bennett who took an assistant position at Boston University. She takes over with two new assistants, former Wesleyan University star Maddie Bledsoe and Skidmore College standout and three-time AllAmerican, Kelly Donnelly.
“This (position) came up and I was very surprised when it did, but it came up and I talked to (Middlebury head coach) KJ (Krasco) about it quite a bit and we both decided that it would
be a good fit for me,” Jessica Turner said. “She had previous experience coaching in the Liberty League from her time at St. Lawrence as a (graduate assistant) and then she was the head coach at Clarkston actually for three years, so she was able to give me an idea of what the Liberty League is about as a coach and as a head coach and we just thought it would be the perfect fit. So I decided to pursue.”
After five years as an assistant at Middlebury and three previous seasons at Green Mountain College, Turner was well versed about the Skidmore returning roster, but only on the court.
“First and foremost I wanted to get to know my current players, so called every single one of them just talk to them to see what are they feeling, how do they feel after the season, you know, what are their expectations for this coming season?,” Turner said. “So I could really just get to know them as people, not just as basketball players, as someone who was scouting Skidmore for the last eight years as an assistant.
“It’s so much more than that. I just wanted to know them as people. Questions like ‘What’s your major? What are you interested in, what are you doing this summer?’ I spent a lot of time doing that this summer and then also doing that again in the fall with our individual meetings.”
She also had to form her staff of assistants.
“Maddie’s was suggested to me by the Wesleyan head coach who I’m very close with, Kate Mullen, she just let me know that she was looking and she wanted to get into coaching,” Turner said. “That triggered a conversation on the recruiting trail, I happened to run into her at a showcase, started a conversation. Next thing I know she’s on campus and she’s hired.
“Kelly actually reached out to me and let me know she was interested in coaching, which I had no idea that she was going to stick around or two that she was going to be interested in coaching. So I immediately wanted her on staff and I let her know that. I just admired what she was able to do on the court and then after talking to her I knew that she had a basketball mind and that she’d be perfect for coaching.”
Turner was also able to get a jump-start on the 2018-2019 campaign on Oct. 15 under the Liberty League guidelines versus Nov. 1 in her former NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference).
“I was like a kid in a candy store, I was so excited and I feel like it was so helpful for our team because everything’s new, it’s a new coaching staff to new offense, a new defense,” Turner said. “We needed that extra time and I think that things are finally starting to come together.
“Yesterday at practice we were able to see it for the first time. Our defense looks really good, our offense looks really good and we’re ready to play at Saturday. So it was really cool to see the last four weeks and how it progressed and being able to take our time to attack everything and put everything into digestible pieces for each player so they could really fully grasp everything that we’re trying to teach.”
The women’s program will look different on the floor 2 p.m. Saturday, opening up against visiting Muhlenberg and former Catholic Central standout, current junior forward Emilie Benton.
“What I see is a team that looks to push the ball up the floor when we can, but at the same time we’re always in our offense if we don’t get anything initially,” Turner said. “I guess the best way to explain it would be a controlled break and it’s very different from what they’ve done in the past.
“We have our primary focus I can say is our defense, that’s what is going to make us successful this year, that’s how we’re going to win games, is by disciplined half court player to player defense and that’s what I’ve stressed the last four weeks. I think our players are really buying into it and enjoying it and see how playing really good defense could really dictate a game. So that’s essentially our game plan is just to dictate the game with our defense.”