COLUMN: Breen the future of CMU women’s basketball
Coming into the 2014-15 season, most of the spotlight has been given to the upperclassmen on the CMU women’s basketball team. Seniors Crystal Bradford and Jas’Mine Bracey do the brunt of the work needed to win games.
Given the injuries to Jessica Green and Jewel Cotton, other players have needed to step up.
While every player on the team has chipped in a little more, one freshman has taken a lead role in her first season with the Chippewas.
Freshman guard Cassandra Breen has made a big impact on the team during her opening season in a Chippewa uniform. She is the most impressive freshman on the team this year.
Breen became a starter for Head Coach Sue Guevara after Cotton’s injury. She is averaging 22 minutes per game, more than double the minutes of any other freshman. Breen is also the only freshman to start a game this season.
Established herself as a 3-point shooting threat, Breen has hit 38 percent of her shots in her first 13 games. She is averaging 6.6 points per game and has proven she can hit big shot in big games.
Against Kentucky, she was 3-for-3 from long range, hitting one 3-pointer with 2:59 left in the game to cut the Wildcat’s lead to one score.
While Breen is a guard, she has also had an impact on the boards. Her 39 rebounds is more than any other freshman on the team.
One of Breen’s biggest attributes is what she can do on defense.
She is a natural ball hawk who has constantly disrupted the flow of opposing teams.
Though a big percentage of her defensive work doesn’t show up on a score line, Breen has fought for 10 steals this season and has blocked three shots in the process.
She is quick to get back on defense, which has allowed her to take charge during key points during games.
As she gets more Division I minutes, Breen will improve and has the ability to become a leader for Chippewas teams of the future.
There is no doubt that there is plenty of talent in this season’s freshman class, but Breen has stood out and looks like she could be a future lynchpin of a program with so much history.
