Danish transfer Brynaa boosts girls hoops
By Justin Feil, Assistant Sports Editor
Elisabeth Brynaa is used to a longer season, not a shorter one.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro South junior was forced to sit out the first 30 days of the girls basketball season after transferring — from Denmark, where she was a member of the U-16 national team for the last two years and also plays for a club team.
”I’m used to playing from September to May,” said Brynaa, a point guard. “Maybe three times a week we practice, and then one game. It’s all year.”
The Pirates are happy to have Brynaa in the lineup, and she was happy to be back on the court if it’s only for another month.
”I think the season is pretty short,” she said. “I’m sad about that. It’s like you just get started and it’s over.
”I was really eager to play,” she added. “It was hard sitting there on the bench watching.”
The Pirates struggled through the 10 games that she missed before she played in a pair of tough matchups against Steinert and Hamilton. Brynaa enjoyed her first win as a Pirate, 62-41, over Ewing on Tuesday.
”She played well today,” said Pirates head coach Lisa Guarneri after her team improved to 4-9. “We haven’t had someone who can bring up the ball. She makes a difference. She can handle the ball, make good decisions and score too.”
WW-P South is looking at the win as the starting point for the second half of the season. The Pirates will play at Notre Dame today as they look for their first back-to-back wins of the year.
”I think it’s a new start,” said Brynaa, who had 12 points and two assists while running the offense against Ewing. “We’re halfway through season. It’s our first win in a couple games. We have to keep going and get a couple more wins and try to make it to states.”
Brynaa was one of four players in double figures scoring Tuesday. Gabi Hahn, a transfer from WW-P North, had 15 points, Sharell Lowe had 14 and Erica Simi had 13 points. How they got those points was what made Guarneri happiest.
”We average about two or three assists a game,” she said. “Our goal was to get 10 assists and we did. We have to come together as a team. Today we finally started to come together.
”It looked like an individual effort before. We were not making the extra pass. You come and drive and draw people on you, and instead of making the pass, we would shoot it.”
Brynaa is hoping to create a few more scoring chances for the Pirates. She has been playing basketball since she was 7, and has developed her point guard skills.
”I’m just trying to take care of the ball, set up plays, control tempo so we don’t rush all the time,” she said. “At the same time, I want to push the ball. I want to have better communication and talk a lot.”
The Pirates are starting to get more comfortable with her on the court after they spent the first month of the season adjusting to having her only in practice.
”It’s kind of good,” Guarneri explained. “The other kids have had to play without her and it made them better. Hopefully that helps make us stronger.
”I think they’re finally getting it,” she said. “We’re playing kids who haven’t played a lot of varsity time. Gabi is from North. Elisabeth is new. I’m playing some freshmen. They’re learning what it means to play South basketball and play hard for 32 minutes. It’s taken some time, but hopefully this win gave us some momentum.”
And with every game, Brynaa gets more comfortable playing with her new team and a new league. It’s been a lot to adjust to in a short time.
”The first game, I was kind of nervous,” Brynaa said. “The second game, it was better. It feels good now to play now.”
Brynaa, who lives with her aunt, uncles and four cousins in West Windsor, is used to playing with a club team. In Denmark, there are no high school teams. She says that the top teams in New Jersey are better competition than she was used to playing with the Danish national team because the players are older than she was going against in U-16 competition. But her international experience has helped strengthen her game.
”We play European Championship in Division B,” she said. “It’s tough. It’s a lot of work. It’s different. There’s a lot of pressure on you. It’s more physical.”
The Pirates will have to be physical when they play Notre Dame today. The Irish have a bigger inside presence than Ewing did.
”They have a big girl, who’s 6-1 or 6-2,” Guarneri said. “We’re a short team. The whole key to our team is rebounding all season. We had 41 (Tuesday). That’s our key — to keep their big girl off the glass and pressure their guards.”
Brynaa will try to contribute any way she can. She’s playing catch-up after missing half the season.
”I was really upset the first couple of weeks when I couldn’t play,” Brynaa said. “I’m really happy I could play. I just want to make the best of this.”