Usually when a team loses their highest point scorer and rebounder in the off-season, it is difficult to recover the following year.

When Eliza Howe ’09 graduated, Coach Ed Huydic looked to his experienced players to fill in Howe’s contributions.

This season, the girls’ varsity team has a 8–3 record as of Jan. 26 , as a result of strong play from the senior captain, Suvi Puripattarapan ’10.

“Suvi has been our pillar,” Huydic said. “She has stepped up and is the leading scorer, averaging about 14 points per game.”

However, the team’s success is also due to teamwork rather than individual success. In a 47-38 victory over Fairfield Warde, 19 of the points came off of the bench.  In a 53-51 win over Bridgeport Central, 11 of those points came off of the bench from Remy Nolan ’12.

“When Eliza left,” forward Nicole Brill ’11 said, “I didn’t look for one person to step up. I knew it would have to be a group effort to accomplish all that Eliza did last year.”

Besides Puripattarapan, the team has seen great production from Chelsea Salamone ’10, Jaclyn Katz ’11, Julie Strickland ’11, Jess Coelho ’12, Nolan and Brill.

In a 64-55 win over Brien McMahon, Katz and Puripattarapan led the team with 17 points each.

The team understood that with the loss of Howe, an All-FCIAC athlete, they would need to work hard to continue to be a competitive team in the FCIAC Conference.

From last year’s statistics, Puripattarapan was the next highest scorer after Howe, averaging eight points per game.

“Knowing that Eliza was the leader on and off the court we worked really hard last summer and in the fall to make sure that without her our team was still strong,” Puripattarapan said.

According to Brill, when Howe graduated, it made the team grow. Each person was forced to fulfill their own role on the team instead of looking for one person to do everything.

From this point forward, Huydic believes that success will come from consistency, meaning that key performances from the bench will help the team continue to win games.

“We are running 10 deep even without injured Maddie Krakowiak,” Huydic said when asked about the depth of the roster. “Depth is equal to the thought that any one of 10 people can be a hero on a different day.”

The team expects to be in the FCIAC playoff hunt come February.