Boyer helping Tigers
make their mark

By Joe Mason
Times Sports Editor

When asked about her team’s marketing ploy, Lauren Boyer didn’t have to think very long.
Boyer is a sophomore guard on the Holy Family University women’s basketball team. She’s also a sports management and marketing major. So if Boyer was trying to develop a marketing strategy to define what the Tigers basketball team is all about, what would her pitch be?
"That’s tough, but I do know two things it would include. It would have to start with heart and desire," Boyer said. "I don’t mean we don’t have talent, I think we have a lot of talent. But we also have the desire to do well and we also have great chemistry.
"I think all three of those things — talent, chemistry and desire — are the reasons we’ve been doing so well this year," she continued. "If you don’t have all three, you can be good, but I don’t think you can be a great basketball team. You need a perfect mix."
The Tigers haven’t been perfect this year, but they’re pretty close to it.
In 24 games thus far, Holy Family has won 22 times, including a perfect 18-0 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. In the process, the team clinched the top seed in the conference playoffs, which start early next month. Overall, the Tigers are riding a 44-game regular-season winning streak in the conference.
Both losses this year came down to the final seconds. On Dec. 20, the team suffered a 59-55 loss to Concordia University of St. Paul Minnesota. The second loss was a 63-62 setback to Bentley College of Waltham, Mass. That loss was on Jan. 28.
Since then, the Tigers have won six straight. And Boyer has done her part to keep Holy Family streaking along. Boyer, who has started every game for Holy Family this year, scores an average of 6.2 points per game. But putting points on the scoreboard isn’t what got her on the court.
"When I first got here last year, I was a role player," Boyer admitted. "My job was to go out and clamp down on a good shooter or to pressure the other team’s point guard and try to disrupt their offense.
"But I was getting time, so when I had an opportunity to score, I would try to take advantage of it," Boyer said. "Now I try to blend offense with defense. When you’re out on the court, you have to work hard at everything. I don’t really look at it like it’s pressure, I look at it like it’s a chance to produce.
"I never minded being a role player because when you play for a good team, you need to have role players," she continued. "But now that I’m playing a bigger role, it’s great. Any way I can help produce results, I’ll do it. Everyone on the team has that same attitude, which is why we’re doing so well right now."
Boyer has been producing on the court ever since her days at Lebanon Catholic High School. Her senior class at Lebanon, which is just outside Hershey, consisted of just 38 students.
But during Boyer’s four years in high school, the Lebanon Catholic Beavers still managed to win their district championship every year and advance to the state championship.
"We were really good because we worked hard," Boyer said. "I don’t think we had a lot of talent, but we put in the work, so when we won . . . it was pretty rewarding."
However, the small-school environment that Boyer enjoyed at Lebanon Catholic is one of the primary reasons she’s now at Holy Family.
"My town was small," Boyer said. "We had more than one traffic light, but it wasn’t huge. So coming to Philly was a pretty big change for me, but it was something I was excited about.
"When I got to Holy Family, I immediately fell in love with it," she said. "The coaching staff, the basketball team, the students. It’s small, it’s perfect for learning, and when you look at what the basketball team has accomplished . . . it was just so perfect for me."
Now she’s anticipating the perfect ending to what has already been a very good year.
The Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference regular-season championship was nice, and another title in the tournament would be fine, too.
But the Tigers are now looking at the possibility of an extended run in the NCAA Division 2 tournament. Right now they might not be the favorite, but it wouldn’t shock too many people if the Tigers hung a championship banner at the end of the year.
"We honestly think we have enough of everything to go very, very far," Boyer said. "This has been almost perfect, everything about it.
"Really, the only problem that people say we have is that when we’re playing, most of the girls are too unselfish," she said with a laugh. "We all get along great, we’re all supportive of each other, and we have some pretty good players. This has been a great year."
So as far as marketing the Tigers?
"If people come to watch us, we’ll market ourselves," Boyer said. "There’s a pretty good basketball team playing in Philadelphia."
Yes there is, Lauren! ••
Sports editor Joe Mason can be reached at 215-354-3035 or jmason@phillynews.com