City of Basketball Love

Andrew Robinson (@ADRobinson3)
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HAVERFORD -- Ava Possenti giveth by taking away.

The Ursinus College senior is a difference-maker for the Bears and she can do it without even scoring a point. In a game where so often the focus goes on scoring, Possenti is the antithesis, a player who gives her team a lift by taking away the other team’s ability to score. Plenty have seen it, or more accurately, have had to turn and see it as Possenti zips away after having swiped the ball out of their possession.

Wednesday night, Possenti’s defensive efforts went a long way as the Bears put together a huge second half in an 80-52 win at Haverford College to open Centennial Conference play.

“It’s evolved a little bit," Possenti said. "I definitely take pride in my defense, hoping it makes plays and helping my teammates play better by taking some of that work away from them."

While Possenti — who is a master in the art of the steal — had a season-low in takeaways with only two, the all-around job she did Wednesday was arguably her most impactful performance of the season. Matched up largely with Fords senior Caroline Orza, who came in eighth nationally in Division III averaging 24.0 points, Possenti was able to hold the talented guard well under her season average for most of the night.

Orza finished with 16 points, with five of them coming late against defenders other than Possenti. The Garnet Valley alum had to put a lot of energy into her work on the defensive end, she was close to a couple more steals that would have gotten closer to her 4.28 steals per game average and did get a block, then turned up her offensive production late to finish with 13 points of her own.

Now through eight games for the 6-2 Bears, Possenti has recorded 32 steals, which would again put her near the top of the national leader board. It’s something she’s done plenty of since arriving in Collegeville for her sophomore year and when Ursinus coach Bobbi Morgan calls the senior one of the best defensive players she’s ever coached, Morgan means it.

“She’s an unbelievable defensive player, a freak of nature honestly,” Morgan said with a chuckle. “I joked (Tuesday) in practice, I stopped practice because she had seven steals in a row and I announced to everyone ‘Ava Possenti just set the school record for steals in a single practice’ and they all laughed.

“She doesn’t play any differently in practice than she does in games. Sometimes, seniors or starters, they may not go all-out, but she has one gear and she’s somebody you can emulate with her effort and attitude.”

Possenti has always been a defensive menace and nobody from opponents to even teammates in practice are spared from having their pockets picked on a regular basis. As a junior, Possenti broke the Ursinus single-season record — and led the Centennial Conference — with a staggering 115 steals. That came after a sophomore year where she led the team with 52 swipes coming mostly off the bench.

“It comes from quickness but also trusting my teammates to have my back if I gamble for a ball,” Possenti said. “They recognize how I play and I understand they’re going to be there for me.

“It still needs work, my gambling for steals, but I have my coaches and teammates to lean on.”

While Possenti can come from seemingly anywhere to get a steal, she picked off a pass in Haverford’s backcourt on Wednesday and nearly had another where she swooped in from across the court, she feels like one play is her signature on defense.

“I’d say ‘pick the pocket,’ then go behind them and grab it,” Possenti said. “I think it’s just natural instincts.”

There’s a case to be made that Ursinus got a steal when it was able to add Possenti to its roster ahead of the 2023-24 season.

Her junior year at Garnet Valley was the Covid-19 altered season and while she was part of a Jaguars team that went on a memorable postseason run her senior year, Possenti admitted she’d lost some love for the game as an upperclassman. Although she had some college interest, she opted to attend Coastal Carolina as a regular student but not too long into the fall semester of her freshman year, she had started to really miss basketball.

“I took a break and realized it was a very important part of my life and my team was the most important people in my life,” Possenti said. “It was all connections and I’m grateful I had those people who wanted to give me these opportunities.”

She reached out to one of her former coaches, Kristen Port, and Port — who played for Morgan in high school — tapped into her contacts back home. Morgan was extremely interested but with her roster already at 19 players, she pushed for Cabrini head coach Kate Pearson, one of her former assistant coaches, to bring the guard in.

Possenti transferred to Cabrini between semesters and made her college debut on Dec. 30, 2022 while playing just two minutes. She didn’t record a steal that night, but she’d finish the season with 27 steals in 13 games — including a six-steal game — and figured there was a good future in store for her with a young Cavaliers team.

In June 2023, Cabrini announced it would be closing at the close of the 2023-24 academic year and not too long after, Pearson announced her resignation to take the head coaching job at Rowan. With the Cavaliers not having a final season, Possenti needed a new home and Pearson knew who to call.

Morgan wasn't going to pass up again on the chance to add Possenti.

“I said ‘bring her up,’ it was a no-brainer,” Morgan said. “She’s been a great addition and I know she loves Ursinus so it was great that it's all worked out for her.”

It’s been a perfect match in just about every way and even in the midst of her senior season, Possenti is making sure to relish every chance she has to get on the court, forge bonds with her teammates and maybe take the ball away from people on the other team a few times on gamedays.

“I wouldn’t say urgency, I would just say gratitude and taking in every moment as if it’s my last,” Possenti said. “These last three and a half years, even going back to Cabrini and coming to Ursinus, I’m very thankful and this team, we take pride in our togetherness and always staying connected.”

Growing up, Possenti played about every sport possible from baseball to soccer to field hockey, volleyball and of course basketball. Genetics all but determined she’d be an athlete as a Possenti, with her dad and four uncles having forged a legendary football legacy in Delco.

“Actually, we have a bunch of our football guys who come to games just to watch Ava make steals,” Morgan said. “She would have been an unbelievable football player.”

Possenti stayed pretty disciplined on Wednesday night, knowing the importance of her job shadowing Orza, who transferred to Haverford ahead of her junior year after playing at Loyola (Md.) and is really good moving without the ball. That said, Possenti did make a few Possenti plays on the ball and when she whiffed on one that allowed Orza to drive and draw a foul, the Ursinus bench reminded her not to gamble that much.

“You have to live with it because with her, most of the time it’s a good play,” Morgan said. “I thought she did a phenomenal job on Orza tonight.”

If a player gains a reputation for being a great scorer, it usually follows suit that opposing teams start to shift their defensive attention a little more their way. It’s not as often that happens on defense, although Possenti did have to fight through or switch on a lot of screens Wednesday as the Fords tried to either free up Orza or set up a mismatch for post Aubrey Jakway, who tallied a team-high 17 points.

When she was asked if she’s seen teams try and alter their offensive approach around her, Possenti said that depending on matchups, she might play off a top threat and guard a secondary option that allows her to be more of a ball-hawk looking to intercept passes. Mostly, she tries to guard hard, pick her spots to gamble and create turnovers when she can.

“My kids do it in practice,” Morgan said of players avoiding Possenti as a defender. “They’re like ‘oh, shoot, she’s going to steal it.’ I’m sure it’s in scouting reports, she was fourth in the country in steals last year; she didn’t get (conference) defensive player of the year but maybe this year.”

Morgan made sure to point out Possenti isn’t just a defensive player. She’s third on the team at 11.6 ppg and her 20 assists are second most on the team, and in the words of her coach, even if the senior does have some “crazy moves” or her ambitious passes “sometimes give me a heart attack,” Possenti’s relentless energy is “a lot of fun.”

Morgan joked that whatever Possenti might have said about reining in her gambling habits on defense was “a bunch of malarkey,” but added the senior has earned her leeway with the coaches because she’s so good at creating steals. Possenti is also her own toughest critic, but that rarely curtails her competitive fire. 

“She usually stays out of foul trouble but when she does, I take her out and she gets mad at me,” Morgan said. “She just seethes, she’ll say ‘I’m ok, I’m ok,’ but she really can’t help herself sometimes when it comes to gambling for steals.

“Tonight she was outstanding on Orza and that’s before you add in whatever she did on offense. She really did make a big difference.”

Possenti was far from the only Ursinus player who made a mark on a game that saw the visitors pour in 52 second half points after battling to a 28-25 halftime lead. Senior Madison Smith, a Friends Central alum, powered her way to a game-high 25 points while junior Colleen Blackman had 10 of her 16 points in the third including a banked-in three at the quarter horn.

The bench was strong as well, with sophomore Delaney McCaffery giving the team a second quarter spark and the Council Rock North grad finishing with a career-high 14 points while freshman Anna Chimento from Harriton added four assists and two steals to her lone basket.

Even after losing star forward Chinwe Irondi to graduation last year, Ursinus is now 6-2 on the season and has only played one home game. Possenti has enjoyed every day with this group so far and feels like she can play her hardest everyday because each person around her will do the same.

“We have so much depth on our team and everybody can contribute,” Possenti said. “Leaning on one another and playing like we would in a game during practice really helps prepare us.

“I love our closeness and our ability to trust each other.”

Morgan said that due to her not playing that one semester at Coastal Carolina, Possenti could have an extra semester of eligibility next year. The Bears coach has already started trying to put the idea into Possenti’s head to come back next January and play one final go-round if it would make sense.

There’s a long way to go before that decision would even have to be made and Possenti didn’t make mention of it while talking with CoBL. But, if they could work it out, there’s no doubt what adding the guard back for even half of another season would look like.

It’d be a steal.

“It’s fun to watch somebody play who plays with a smile on their face,” Morgan said. “Watch a game, at least half the time, she’s got a smile on her face and is having a great time. When I go recruiting, I look for kids who are having fun and she loves playing, she never wants to come out.”