By: Donnie Menke ~Staff Writer~

Women’s basketball lost one of the top players in program history, Bri Glover, to graduation last offseason.

The departure of Glover has left a huge hole, as she was the leading scorer and one of the top rebounders on the team last year.

Glover had the second highest free throw percentage on the team as well as one of the top field goal and three point percentages

The biggest hole Glover left was her scoring. She scored from all over the court and shot a high percentage while doing it.

The majority of her scoring load will fall to Raeshaun Gaffney, last year’s leading scorer. However, Maddison Blackwell, the second highest returning scorer after Gaffney, should also see an increased role. Blackwell averaged 6.8 points per game last season.

Blackwell, a 5’11” senior forward from Gahanna, Ohio, was the fourth leading scorer on last year’s team.

She averaged better than an assist per game, with 1.1. Blackwell also had 35 steals in 30 games and finished with a 47.8 field goal percentage.

Kindell Fincher is another name to look for. Fincher is coming off an injury that limited her to two games last season and forced her to take a medical redshirt. She should be a key part of the squad this coming season, so look for her numbers to climb.

In the rebounding area, look for Gaffney and Blackwell, as well as senior Leah Schaefer and redshirt sophomore Imani Partlow, to step up and shoulder the load. All four of these players averaged at least three rebounds a game last year, and there’s no reason they should not continue to improve those numbers.

Schaefer, a 6’ 1” senior forward from Alexandria, Ky., averaged 3.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per game last season.

With multiple forwards above her in the rotation last season departing, Schaefer should see more minutes.

Partlow, a 6’ 1” redshirt sophomore from Cincinnati, averaged 3.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game last year.

Partlow should see a large increase in minutes this year, despite only averaging 9.3 minutes per game last season.

Partlow is largely in the same situation as Schaefer and should contribute more with increased playing time.