The sugar rush from Sour Patch Kids is only temporary — unless, of course, you are Penn women’s basketball guard Caitlin Slover.
“I always eat Sour Patch Kids before the game,” she admitted.
As the winner of last year’s Team Hustle Award, she’s proven that all that sugar has helped her game.
Last season, Slover was second on the team both with her three-point shooting percentage of .357 and her 30 steals. In addition, she led the squad in rebounds in five games in 2008.
The Southampton, Pa., native was also third in assists and blocks, as well as scoring (an average of 5.4 points per game) and rebounding (an average of 4.2 per game).
But Slover’s sugar high extends off the court as well.
“People who know me know that my personality is a little overbearing sometimes,” she said. “I’m always in your face, but that’s just how I am. Don’t talk to me during a Phillies game.”
A product of the Philadelphia suburbs, Slover is a diehard Phillies fan — and she’s gotten her teammates interested in the National League Champions as well.
“We’ve spent a lot of afternoons, already, just watching the Phillies,” Sarah Bucar said of her fellow co-captain. “I’m not so much [of a fan], but I got into it because of her.”
Despite the fact that Slover’s over-the-top personality may have influenced her professional team allegiances, Bucar claimed that the senior duo values their relaxation time too.
“We like to keep a low profile,” Bucar said. “We go out when we can, but we’re pretty much very focused.”
The two captains lay off the sugar on Sundays, when they often return to Slover’s Bucks County house where her parents provide them with all the comforts of home.
“We just like to get off campus,” Slover said. “We usually wind up sleeping on the couch and eating.”
Bucar and Slover are the only four-year seniors on the squad, and new coach Mike McLaughlin will be looking to them for leadership as he rebuilds the program this season.
According to McLaughlin, Slover has already stepped into her role as captain.
“She’s been incredible so far,” he said. “She’s one of the reasons the program is going to have success over time because she’s going to set the foundation for the rest of us.”
Slover was unable to play in the team’s preseason games due to stress fractures in her feet, so in the regular season McLaughlin knows that he will have to learn to harness her abundance of energy in order to keep her healthy and able to lead the Quakers.
“We have to manage her and almost have to reign her back out of practice so we’re able to compete with her everyday,” McLaughlin said. “If not, she may break down on us.”
But with the help of the team trainers, Slover doesn’t seem to show any signs of letting up. She takes an ice bath after every practice and swears by the training room’s equipment.
“I’m doing surprisingly well. Time off kind of helped my body a little bit,” Slover said. “I don’t really like to admit that. I don’t like taking time off.”
And with some of that Sour Patch sugar to spark her game this season, hopefully she will be able to focus all that energy onto the court.
