Shepherd men's and women's basketball teams start season with 2-2 records

SHEPHERDSTOWN Both the Shepherd University mens and womens basketball teams are off to respectable starts with identical records of 2-2.

The mens team opened their 2024-2025 season at the Conference Challenge, where they picked up a narrow 69-66 win over Winston-Salem State and a 93-50 loss to Virginia State.

The following week they defeated Frostburg, 73-62, in their home opener before falling by 20 points to West Liberty, who is currently ranked 17th in the nation.

The womens team also opened their 2024-2025 season with a tournament in Charleston, West Virginia, tallying loses to both opponents they played.

They were first defeated by University of Charleston, 83-78, and defeated second by West Virginia State, 91-60.

However, the Shepherd women are currently on a two game winning streak after picking up a pair of wins at home.

On Thursday they defeated West Virginia Wesleyan, 67-64, and then Cheyney, 86-43, on Monday.

So far returning senior Carson Poffenberger has led the mens team in scoring with 40 points.

Poffenberger is currently shooting .355 within the 3-point line and .286 beyond it.

Notably, he has shot a perfect 1.000 from the free throw line, making all 14 of his attempts.

Defensively, he has tallied three blocks and gathered seven turnovers.

Also shining brightly for the mens team are Towson transfers Chase and Cole Paar.

Chase is currently the second highest scorer on the team with 37 points this season and his younger brother Cole is the third highest scorer with 36 points.

Cole leads the Rams in field goal shooting accuracy at .652 as well as 3-point shooting at .429.

As a team, rebounding has been a strong point for the Shepherd men.

In total they have collected 154 compared to their opponents who have only collected 141.

Standing at 6-foot-10, Chase Paar leads the team in combined offensive and defensive rebounds with 29.

Returning sophomore guard Marcus Banks follows with 24.

The Shepherd womens team has been led in scoring by returning junior guard Annie Hunt, who has sank a total of 49 points so far.

Nearly half of her points were collected during Mondays matchup with Cheyney, where she scored a game-high of 22.

Following Hunt in scoring is returning sophomore guard Kara Wehner with 44 points this season.

Field goal shooting has largely set the women ahead of their opponents as they shoot with an accuracy of .449 combined.

Leading the Rams in that category is Frostburg State transfer Jenna Liska with a whopping .684 accuracy percentage.

Free throw shooting has also been one of the womens teams strong suits as five players on their roster have made every single one of their attempts.

Those players are freshman guard Corin Edsell (2/2), College of Saint Rose transfer Samiyah Nasir (4/4), returning senior guard Jordan Carr (9/9), returning sophomore forward Carmaya Bowman (4/4) and returning sophomore guard Cassidy Rhodes (2/2).

Both the mens and womens teams have two games on the road this week against the same opponent.

They will face Seton Hill on Friday and California University of Pennsylvania on Saturday.

The womens team will play at home again on December 1 to host the Wilmington Wildcats.

The next mens home game will be on December 6 to host Indiana University of Pennsylvania..

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