GOA Alum Ally Landau Still Shining on the Court

By Gabrielle Zellan ‘23
Golda Och Academy Alumna Ally Landau, class of 2020, is taking her basketball career to new heights at Haverford College.
Landau averages 16.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game and has helped the Haverford Fords reach the number three position in the Centennial Conference with a record of 13-6.

 In her season opening win against the Eastern University Eagles, Landau led both teams in scoring with 21 points. Then in the conference opener, she again helped the Fords to a win with 22 points. 
Landau was named a Centennial Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week this season after averaging 21.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 38 minutes per game, with the Fords winning all three of their games that week. The same week, Landau earned herself a double-double after recording 10 assists and 16 rebounds during a win against McDaniel College. 
Landau’s time at GOA set a precedent for her college career. During her time at GOA, Landau racked up many impressive basketball achievements. 
As a sophomore, she scored her 1,000th point, becoming the youngest player in GOA history to do so. Two years later, she scored her 2,000th point, becoming only the second in Roadrunner history, and earning a spot on the 2,000 Points Scorer’s Club banner in the gym. Landau was also on the All Conference First-team and was the team MVP all four years of her high school career.
“Ally always played her hardest; her determination, dedication, and energy really led the team,” said senior and former teammate Eve Askin. 
Coach Sandy Pyonin said, “She is physical when playing sports, but also very caring. A true leader.” 
In addition to being an exceptional athlete, Landau was also a standout teammate. Junior Sadie Harosh remembered, “Ally was really nice and encouraging to everyone, especially the ones who were new to the team.” 
Junior Sabrina Smoker added, “Ally was like a mentor to us. She taught us a lot of valuable skills that we still use today.”
Landau has carried her GOA experience into her college career. She said, “I was put in a position at GOA where I could learn how to be a leader even as an underclassman. This has been beneficial seeing as I am an underclassman who is starting at Haverford. GOA athletics also helped teach me to compete hard no matter the circumstances, which is something I am grateful for.”
Considering her success at GOA, Landau’s  equally stellar college career is not surprising. However, her success did not come without a couple bumps in the road. 
First, Landau’s freshman season at Haverford was canceled due to COVID-19. 
When asked about how the cancellation affected her, Landau said, “This year, my classmates and I were still considered rookies and since most of us are starters, it meant we had a very inexperienced team. It’s also still affecting me because we are not allowed to have any fans at some of our games and it’s much harder without building off of the high energy of fans.” 
However, Landau was also able to find a bright side to the situation: “It also gave me an opportunity to really focus on my individual growth. During the initial wave of COVID I had a lot of time to put in work to prepare myself for college basketball.”
 Landau’s transition also was difficult because of college basketball’s greater level of competition. She said, “Adjusting to the competition was honestly a bit harder than I expected. I think I got used to being stronger and faster than most girls in high school and I took it for granted.”
“I had to sharpen my passes in order to get the ball past quicker competitors and get stronger so that I could go up against girls who were mostly 6 feet tall. The mental aspect was also something I overlooked at first. There’s a lot of plays to learn and much more preparation for games with scouting reports and learning new defenses, but my coaches were always there to answer questions and put in extra work with me so that I could perform my best,” she said. 
Aside from these difficulties, Landau has had a good experience overall at Haverford. 
“My experience on the Haverford women’s basketball team has been great,” she said. “It was really nice to sort of have built-in friends… people to go to for help when going into college. It’s also nice because we all have the same mindset; we are working towards something together and going through all that hard work as a team creates a bond you don’t get to have with other friends. We find a great balance between having fun and working hard to win.” 
With the same mindset on a new and harder stage, Landau hopes to continue her great play and continue to set an example for GOA students and athletes.