Sports Stories

There’s a shake-up coming in West Coast Conference women’s basketball; and the agent of change is Jennifer Azzi, second-year coach of the bottom-feeding University of San Francisco Dons.

Azzi’s first year as the Dons coach ordinarily would not be cause for undue, or any other kind of, optimism. The team finished with a 4-25 record and managed only one win in the conference. Those results mirrored the final year of her predecessor’s team.

There were good reasons why last season was so similar to the prior season … most of the players were the same. By the time Azzi was hired in the Spring of 2010, most of the blue-chip high school players had made their commitments to colleges. USF had only two commitments. And the players, old and new, had to acclimate to a new system.

Inevitably, the results weren’t promising. But progress was made. By the time the WCC tournament came around, the Dons had progressed to the point where they battled to the final horn in their first round game with Santa Clara before falling four points short.

So why the rosy outlook?
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