After appearing in 21 games in her freshman year, sophomore guard Clare Traeger hopes to have a breakout year. Hailing all the way from Dallas, Texas, Traeger saw limited playing time in her first year of college basketball, but helped secure a comeback win over UMass Lowell by scoring a career-high seven points and was a member of the America East Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

With last season’s starting five consisting of veterans, Traeger wasn’t able to see the court all that much. But with all five starters gone, Traeger wants to fill the shoes of guard Karlee Krchnavi, ‘20.

“I want to do the dirty work,” Traeger said. “I want to do things like KK, [Krchnavi], did, so for me, that’s kind of my role. I’m a very loud person and a loud player.”

Not only does Traeger want to emulate Krchnavi’s style, but she also wants to take on a bigger leadership role.

“I think with all [the seniors and transfers] leaving we definitely have to take bigger roles and step up,” Traeger said. “We don’t have a big senior class. We have [senior guard] Lizzy [Spindler] and [senior forward] Kaylee Wasco, but other players have to step up.”

Despite all five starters leaving, Traeger thinks that with all the returning players and new additions, the team will have success in the 2020-21 season. She said the new players are adjusting well and cited their chemistry as a reason for optimism.

“The players on the court, since we have great chemistry off the court, you know on the court, it’s easy,” Traeger said. “It’s different. It’s different styles of playing than we had in the past, but I think we’re meshing well. Especially now, we’re just taking every practice as if it’s our last and making the most of it. I think every player gives their all.”

She also holds the coaching staff in high esteem. Traeger said that the coaches helped mold her from the player she was last year to the player she is now not just physically, but also mentally.

“The staff is great,” Traeger said. “They really built me from the player I was last year to the player I am today. I think that both on and off the court my mental aspect of the game, the coaches have really helped me with that and it’s really different coming from high school to college basketball, so they really groomed me. I love the coaching staff, they’re really nice — they really care about us as players and as people, so that’s really important to me. You can see it in just everyday stuff that we do.”

Coming to Binghamton to play basketball was an easy decision for Traeger. She said that BU really cares about the basketball community and pushing its students academically. Being from Texas, where the main sport is football, Traeger also likes the emphasis that Binghamton puts on basketball.

“I chose Binghamton primarily because of the family atmosphere, and I just loved the team the moment I came,” Traeger said. “They just made me feel like it would be a second home for me, especially coming from Texas, so that and the great academics. I wanted a place that would push me both on the court and off the court.”

Traeger knows that this season will look significantly different from years past, but she is determined to stay positive. She thinks that one of the most important things the team can do is to remain optimistic.

“We’ve done a lot of mental training, so a lot of things off the court that we could control,” Traeger said. “The coaches always say, ‘We can only control the controllables.’ During this time, we’re very careful. We don’t want to get sick. We’re just taking every precaution and doing everything we can to stay safe because we all want to play.”