After going 10-18 on the season and 7-14 in the PSAC, the Mercyhurst Lakers Women’s basketball season is under new management.

In her inaugural season with the Lakers, Head Coach Brooklyn Kohlheim is looking to change things up for the Lakers for 2019-2020. “My goal would be to get us to look, sound and feel like a team,” Kohlheim said. “I think that we need to do simple better, and that we need to kind of get into details and fundamentals before we can grow towards that, but I would say our overarching goal is to be a team and have confidence in that.”

Prior to joining the Lakers, Kohlheim coached the 2018-19 season with the Lake Erie College Storm (the Storm were 11-16, 8-14 that season).

Kohlheim acknowledged connection to President Victor, given his tenure there as president prior to Mercyhurst. “I knew of him in a vicarious kind of way, he still has a very big shadow at Lake Erie,” Kohlheim said.

Other coaching jobs that Kohlheim held included being an assistant coach at Michigan Tech, where they secured the wild-card playoff bid for the 2017-18 season, and five years spent as an assistant coach at Nova Southeastern University.

So far, the Lakers have opened the season 0-2, posting losses against West Liberty and University of Charleston. This hasn’t phased Kohlheim, who is optimistic about the forthcoming season and what her team can do, and the growth they are seeing game over game.

“I think we are playing a different brand of basketball,” Kohlheim said. “We’re not walking the ball up the floor anymore, we’re pushing tempo. We’re not playing as fast as I would like but we’re playing faster than we did last season. So it is a completely different vibe and a completely different energy for the program.”

The Lakers’ next contest is a Nov. 16 game against Notre Dame of Ohio, but it won’t be until Nov. 23 that the Lakers will be playing a PSAC opponent in Millersville University. The Lakers polled at eight in the PSAC West, while Millersville came in last for the PSAC East poll.

“There are some wins we can get along the way,” Kohlheim said. “Our goal is to beat the teams we should beat, split with the teams that are about our level and maybe knock off one or two of the big schools; if we can do that I think we can get around 18 wins.”

Overall, Kohlheim is excited to be here at Mercyhurst, and is looking to guide the Women’s basketball team to a great season.

“I think Mercyhurst has an aura about it. When I went through the gates, I was just sold on it,” said Kohlheim. “I just got a vibe that they’re doing things the right way and going in the right direction. Not a lot of schools in Division II are going this way in athletics. I feel very fortunate.”