The Lancaster Bible College Women's Basketball program will kick off its 51^st season of play on Saturday afternoon in Langhorne, Pa., as the Chargers face longtime rival Cairn at 1 p.m. The Chargers finished above the .500 mark a season ago for the ninth time in 11 seasons, but narrowly missed out on the United East Conference Playoffs because of a tie-breaker loss to St. Mary's (Md.).
 
The 2022-23 edition of the Chargers returns many key pieces from a year ago, including all-conference guard Alaysha Iwais and reigning United East Rookie of the Year Jade Eshelman. Also returning are upperclassmen Adalyn Steiner and Jenna Dombach, while Sydney Heller, who provided valuable minutes during the second half of the season, also returns.
 
Lancaster Bible will challenge itself in non-conference play this season, as the Chargers battle perennial strong programs like Eastern Mennonite, York (Pa.), and Salisbury. Regardless of the opponent, Lancaster Bible Head Coach Joy Tharrington's team will continue to be hard-working and fight for 40 minutes, something they have done for the two previous seasons.
 
2022-23 Season Preview
2021-22 Record: 13-12, 10-6 United East
 
2021-22 Postseason: Did not qualify
 
Coaching Staff
Head Coach: Joy Tharrington (Third Season (19-17 overall))
Assistant Coaches: Chelsea Cook (Second season), Nicole Kraehmer (Lancaster Bible, '11 – Second Season)
 
Returners
Seniors: Adalyn Steiner (F), Mikayla Via (G)
Juniors: Jenna Dombach (G), Faith Hammond (F), Alaysha Iwais (G)
Sophomores: Emma Drouillard (G/F), Jade Eshelman (F/C), Sydney Heller (G)
 
Newcomers
Junior: Shelby Gard (G; West Palm Beach, Fla. – Warner Univ.)
Sophomore: Gianna Hegler (G; Mount Airy, Md. – Mount Airy Christian Academy)
Freshmen: Amber Millen (F; Lancaster, Pa. – Lancaster County Christian), Irene Were (F; Nairobi, Kenya – Norfolk Christian Schools (Va.))
 
Program Notes
-Through 50 seasons of women's basketball at Lancaster Bible, the Chargers are 487-557 (.467)
-Like the Lancaster Bible Men's Basketball program, the women's basketball team will play 11 home games during the regular season in 2022-23 and 14 games away from Horst Athletic Center
-Last season, Lancaster Bible was 7-6 at home and 6-6 in games away from HAC
-Since joining the United East Conference (formerly the North Eastern Athletic Conference) in 2011-12, Lancaster Bible has posted a 139-36 (.794) record in conference play, including a 10-6 conference mark last season
-Lancaster Bible didn't have a scorer in double figures last season, but did have four players average over eight points a game, including team-leader Jade Eshelman who averaged 8.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per contest
-Eight of Lancaster Bible's 12 losses last season were by 10 points or less, including each of the last six
 
Three Questions for Lancaster Bible Head Coach Joy Tharrington
Question 1: The team played well during the second semester last year, and despite narrowly missing the United East Playoffs, seemed to gain an understanding of what success could look like. How do you take those lessons from last season and apply them this year?
 
JT: There are certain things specific to our team we can take from those games last season, specifically our energy and toughness. Those things will help us this season, as well as our pace and our ability to move the ball. I think our players understand the role they have to play on this team better than last season, and we've already had a chance to go over those with each player and have them gain a better understanding of how they can help the team, and improve as players.
 
Question 2: What are early benchmarks this team can use to propel itself to playing the best basketball it can during conference play in January and February?
 
JT: I'm excited about our non-conference schedule and how it will challenge us. I expect us to be in every game and compete at a high level. If we take care of the ball and limit our turnovers, I think we can have a success in our non-conference and conference contests. We were one of the better shooting teams last season, and it's important for us to establish getting good looks at the basket early in the season.
 
Question 3: There is a good mix of returners and new players this season, how has the gelling process gone throughout the preseason?
 
JT: It has been tremendous. The culture of the program is strong and I'm excited about the chemistry the team has already formed. The team is intentional about their relationships with one another, and they have gone out of their way to make it a positive experience for each member of the program.
 
2022-23 Team Resources
2022-23 Schedule
2022-23 Roster
Historical Program Statistics