Recruiting: Siena Women Fill Needs With Freshmen

Here's another in the series looking at players joining conference programs for the coming season.

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SIENA WOMEN

- Emia Willingham, a 5-foot-7 freshman guard: She is a local product, a graduate of Albany High School, who averaged 19.7 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.2 steals and 2.1 assists per game as a senior there, where she was on the varsity for five seasons. "I am very excited that Emia has decided to join our program," said Siena coach Ali Jaques, in a release issued by the school. "She has proven to be one of the top guards in our area ... and her athleticism and ability to score will have an immediate impact on our team."

- Halee Adams, a 5-7 freshman guard: She was the first player in history at Bishop Guilfoyle H.S. (Altoona, Pa.) to score more than 1,000 p oints before the end of her sophomore season. She then missed her junior year with a knee injury, but returned to average 16.1 points per contest as a senior. "Halee is an extremely tough, versatile wing," said Jaques. "She has the ability to score in a lot of different ways. She is a great shooter, can really break down oponents off the dribble, and works really hard on both ends of the court."

- Megan Donohue, a 6-2 freshman center: She averaged 17.2 points per game this past season as a senior at Archbishop Hoban H.S. in Ohio. She had averaged 9.7 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.0 blocks per contest as a junior. "Megan has an innate toughness about her game that is going to be really fun to coach," said Jaques. "As a lefty at 6-2 she has great size, is physical in the paint and can finish very well around the basket. She will bring another strong low-post presence to our frontcourt."

- Brianna Logan, a 5-6 freshman guard: She averaged 12.4 points per game as a senior, playing point guard at Rancocas Valley (Pa.) H.S. She is the second cousin of Marc Brown, the Siena men's program's all-time leading scorer. "Brianna is a consummate point guard," said Jaques. "She makes everyone around her better and knows how to run a team ... She is a great decision-maker and an extremely hard worker."

ANALYSIS: With two front-court starters gone from last season, Siena needed some height and got the 6-2 Donohue, who is reputed to be a good post player in a half-court setting. The team has also struggled to find consistent play at the point guard position in recent years, and Logan could help address that issue, although she is still extremely slender and might find there to be a transition to the physical level of play in college. Willingham and Adams are both strong offensive players, another area of need for the Saints. The incoming youngsters should all be contributors fairly soon and appear to be a nice foundation for future years.