"These are three of the most special people, you don’t replace them," replied Coach Kathy Connell. The importance of seniors Soujourner Howe PI, Meghan Gould, and Maya Jones to Sagehen basketball cannot be overstated. Their leadership qualities, offensive and defensive skills, and friendship will be sorely missed.

Leadership is always something that teams look for in their seniors, but Gould provided it much earlier than that. Before her sophomore season, the team voted her captain.

This year the team voted Gould, Howe, and Jones co-captains. Coach Connell considers the three to be "terrific leaders" because they "lead by example." "These are players that overachieve and work as hard defensively as offensively," said Connell.

The other part of their leadership is that these seniors are always there. Jones has started for four years and never missed a game. Gould, another four-year starter, missed the first two games of her career with a stress fracture. Howe missed her first game this year because of a broken nose, but only missed one game and was practicing by the end of the week.

These Sagehens do not just bring intangibles to the floor. For years Pomona-Pitzer fans have looked to them to put up points, dish out assists, and grab rebounds.

Jones has finished second in scoring every year except when she went abroad during the 1999-2000 season. Jones also was Pomona-Pizer’s second leading rebounder. For her career Jones averaged 10.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game with a field goal percentage of 47. She elevated her play in conference games to 14 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting 50 percent from the field. Jones scored exactly 1000 points as a Sagehen.

Gould led Pomona-Pitzer in assists for four consecutive years while compiling a rare positive assist-to-turnover ratio. Gould racked up 9.0 points and 2.9 assists per game for her career. Gould also has a potent three-point shot, connecting on 38 percent over her career. Connel remembered a game against Occidental when she connected on six of seven from beyond the arc.

Howe has led the Sagehens in scoring this season at 12.7 points per game. For her career, she averaged 9.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. In the SCIAC competition, her numbers improved to 10.9 points and 3.8 rebounds/game. When Howe was shooting well she was almost impossible to stop, as when she scored 22 points at Redlands and 24 points against Southwest Texas this year.

As critical as they were to the Sagehens’ offensive success, these seniors excelled on the defensive end. "Maya is especially good at defense because of her ability to guard the post or the point."

Howe made strides every year and Connell said that, "Junior year Sonji was a good defender and senior year she was an excellent defender," said Connell. Her quickness and long arms made Howe an excellent shot blocker.

SCIAC coaches have taken notice of these special Sagehens. This year Howe and Jones earned Second Team All-SCIAC honors. Gould received the Baldwin Award in recognition of her good sportsmanship.

Beyond skills and leadership on the court, the Sagehens are losing three excellent people. "These are excellent students and good all-around people," said Connell. Howe praised Jones as "an upbeat person who [brought] a lot of fun to games and practices." Of Gould, Howe said, "Meghan looks to help anyone, whether teammates or friends."

Howe was also humble and considerate enough to acknowledge the other fixture of Pomona-Pitzer basketball these past four seasons. "Coach [Connell] plays a big role is all our success and does a wonderful job," she said.

Jones seemed stunned when asked to sum up her co-captains in a couple of sentences. "I feel really lucky to play with the two of them," Jones said.

Later, Jones related their collective nervousness and eagerness when they returned from abroad their junior years. In the days leading up to winter practices, e-mails whizzed across the country. At the first practice, they made frequent eye contact as they shook off some rust and readjusted to Sagehen basketball. That was one of many shared experiences through which Gould, Howe, and Jones added to their friendship over the past four years.