Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 7, 1991 TAG: 9102080360
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: S-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"Last year, we didn't know what we were capable of," said sophomore guard Debbie Puch. "We had no idea of what we could do or where we were going. This year is different. We're not looking ahead, but we also can see where we can go. We expect a little more from ourselves."
A year ago with a team composed entirely of underclassmen, Roanoke finished 24-5 and ranked 15th in the final Division III national poll. In addition to posting the best record in head coach Susan Dunagan's nine-year career, the Lady Maroons became the first Old Dominion Athletic Conference team to make the NCAA Division III women's basketball tournament.
Still, there were disappointments, including a three-point loss to Bridgewater in the finals of the ODAC tournament and a 64-62 loss to Maryville in the opening round of the NCAA's. Those are the motivation of this year's team.
"Winning the ODAC regular season last year was great, but we didn't win the tournament," said 6-foot All-ODAC center Karen Jenkins, the team's only senior. "We made the NCAA's, but we really didn't play that well. I want to take this team further than last year's. I've never felt as good about a team as I do this one. We have the talent and the chemistry. We're a lot better. Everybody has a year under their belt."
A year's experience has meant much for the Lady Maroons. They no longer hope to win, they expect to. A national ranking is no longer something to shy away from.
"Last year, we were so young and as we got more successful, we tried not to think about it," said Dunagan, who passed the 300 career victory plateau earlier this season. "Now, although we're still a young team, the maturity level is there. We have to be able to discuss our national ranking and what we have to do to stay there."
Going into this week's action, the Lady Maroons were 18-1 overall and 13-0 in the ODAC. They are ranked 14th nationally and second in the South Region behind Maryville, to whom they lost in the third game of the season.
"We're not going to sneak up on anybody this year," said junior guard Kristie Jones. "Nobody expected anything from us last year. Now, people are out to get us. I like that. I like the idea of having to live up to expectations."
If you went down the Roanoke College roster, you would find several familiar names. Six of the 13 Lady Maroons played high school ball in the Roanoke Valley.
That pleases Dunagan because it hasn't always been that way.
"Each year we'd always have a kid from the [Roanoke] Valley on the team, but never more than one or two. It wasn't that I wasn't trying to recruit them. The biggest drawback was a lot of kids wanted to go away from home," said Dunagan, who coached at Cave Spring High School.
Dunagan said the recent trend seems to coincide with recruitment of Jenkins, who played at William Byrd in 1987.
In 1988, Jones came to Roanoke from Cave Spring. Last season it was Puch out of Salem High, starting point guard Amy Saunders from Patrick Henry and guard Debby Jones, an All-Timesland performer at Northside in 1987-88 who transferred after spending two years at Virginia Western. This season, Roanoke got another All-Timesland performer in freshman guard Kay Caldwell from Cave Spring.
"I would think Karen coming here was the start," Dunagan said. "She was a sleeper player, and I went after her very hard. When she came in and did so well, all of a sudden it just caught on. We've been very fortunate recently to get some of these very talented local kids to stay here."
Saunders said for her, Roanoke offered everything she was looking for in a college. "It's a great school academically, and I thought I could come into the program and play basketball. Besides, I don't have to go too far to do my laundry.
"I think as long as we're a winning program, more local players will come here if they're looking for a small-college experience."
Dunagan said she'll work hard to nurture Roanoke's recent popularity with local players, but she knows it's not guaranteed.
"With Division III, you just never know what to expect," Dunagan said. "I would love to say yes, it'll continue, because there are always going to be players who get overlooked by bigger schools. We just have to hope we do a good enough job of finding them and getting them here.
"We've got to sell Roanoke College. With Division III, a player has got to want to come here for the school itself and then our basketball program."
by CNB