If you ask most casual sports fans on campus what the national ranking of Georgetown women’s lacrosse team is, they’ll tell you that it’s No. 4. But ask the same person how the team got there and you’ll be met with a slightly less certain answer. Look no further than senior defender Melissa Biles, who hopes to parlay defense into the Hoyas’ first NCAA National Championship.
If Biles’ name sounds unfamiliar, it’s probably because as a defender, she’s tallied only six points despite starting 61 consecutive games. Despite her quiet presence, Biles’ play may be the margin between a national championship and a third-straight championship game loss for the Hoyas. In 2001 Georgetown lost to Maryland in the NCAA tournament final in double overtime, 14-13. Last year the team fell to Princeton, 12-7.
Given that her high school career at St. Stephen’s and St. Agnes in Alexandria, Va., included leading her team to a No.1 national ranking in 1997, three consecutive Independent School League championships from 1997 to 1999, and an All-American selection her senior year, Biles has a mature perspective on what the Hoyas need for post-season success.
“It’s about balancing the big picture and the small picture. We don’t want to overlook any game along the way,” said Biles. “We try to learn from every game and every opponent.”
Head Coach Kim Simons will rely on Biles and the defense heavily during Georgetown’s quest for a championship.
“We are pretty talented offensively,” said Simons. “If we shut down the other team, it enables our offense to take more chances and to really push the other team,” said Simons.
“We’ve had good defenses here, we haven’t had great defenses. This is the first year we’ve really had a chance to have a defense that sets the tone for the game, as well as the entire season,” she said.
There may be no better player in the country at setting a tone than Biles. In the team’s 13-3 win over No. 7 Syracuse last Saturday, Simons credited the victory to the stifling defense Biles played against Syracuse’s leading scorer, Leigh-Ann Zimmer, who was held to two goals.
“In a lot of ways [Zimmer] may have been a bit stronger and a bit tougher, but I think that at the end of sixty minutes, she was glad the game was over,” said Simons. “When we got off the field I had no idea that [senior attacker] Wick Stanwick had scored four goals, but I knew exactly how many goals Leigh-Ann Zimmer had.”
Biles’s skills are rooted in a mastery of the game’s fundamentals. She will modestly describe her play as “unflashy,” which it might appear to the uninformed spectator. To those in the know, however, her tenacity is phenomenal, as a first-team All American selection last year and Big East Preseason Defensive Player of the Year award this season show.
“To be a great defender, besides knowing the strategy involved in it and knowing where you’re supposed to be and how you’re supposed to play, it’s also a mentality,” said Simons. “It’s being able to dictate what an opponent does and alter the way they play, and that’s what Melissa does on a daily basis.”
As a captain, Biles’s focused attitude gives direction to a team needing veteran leadership if it wishes to capture the championship that has slipped away from them the past two seasons.
“I try to just lead by example and implement the game plan the coaches give us,” said Biles. “I try to find the balance between encouraging people positively, but also getting on them when I know they’re not playing up to their potential. I know we’re all working towards the same thing, but you lose perspective on it from time to time.”
Biles seems to have no problems keeping lacrosse in perspective despite the awards her play has garnered.
“I’m not playing for the recognition and for everyone else; I’m playing to do well and for this team to do well,” said Biles. “You can take away All-American and all that stuff, but as long as I get a ring on my finger at the end of the season, that’s all I care about.”
