Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 21, 1993 TAG: 9311210014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
An NCAA Tournament invitation has become the norm for the women's basketball programs at Virginia and Roanoke College, but the possibility of a bid has heightened enthusiasm at Virginia Tech and Radford.
The Hokies and Highlanders belong to conferences - the Metro and Big South - in which the champion qualifies automatically for an expanded Division I field of 64.
Only 32 teams are invited to the Division III field, but Ferrum has the personnel to make its first NCAA appearance in coach Donna Doonan's 18 seasons.
Hollins College and Washington and Lee also will experience firsts this year, but don't expect to see them in the NCAA field. It is the first year for coach Kellie Kennedy at Hollins and the first year of women's basketball at W & L, where Terry Dadio is the coach.
The Roanoke Times & World-News follows seven women's programs. Here is a summary of each:
\ FERRUM: It is not unreasonable to expect the Lady Panthers to contend for the Dixie Conference championship and an NCAA Division III Tournament bid, despite a 9-16 record in 1992-93.
For one thing, the conference tournament will be held at Ferrum for the first time. For another, the Lady Panthers have four starters returning from a team that reached the championship game last year before losing to Methodist 82-66.
Ferrum is led by second-team all-conference players Sarah Quesenberry and Niki Claiborne, seniors who are closing in on the 1,000-point mark for their careers. Claiborne, a forward, averaged 15.4 points and 7.0 rebounds last season. Quesenberry, a guard from Pulaski County, averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Tamiko Martin, a junior center from Martinsville, set a Division III state record with 97 blocked shots last season, and Ferrum is hoping that freshman Marlo Ferguson-Jamison, who was Marlo Ferguson when she played at Magna Vista High School in the late 1980s, can solve chronic point-guard problems.
\ HOLLINS: It would be wrong to say that coach Kennedy was hired too late, Sept. 3, to recruit. She has spent most of her fall recruiting - recruiting the student body.
"If I hadn't, we would have had only seven or eight players," said Kennedy, who also coaches the women's soccer team. "As it is, our manager may have to suit up for practice."
Hollins set a school record for victories last season and finished 12-13 overall and 8-10 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, but gone are the top three scorers, including first-team All-ODAC selection Serena Beedie. Kennedy hopes that one of those players, Shaye Strager, will rejoin the team after spending the first semester abroad.
"We haven't had the opportunity to scrimmage, so it's kind of hard to gauge what kind of team we'll have, although we're very inexperienced," Kennedy said. "I don't think we're going to have any superstars. I don't even know if there are one or two players we can look to for scoring."
\ RADFORD: They've taken the Big South Tournament out of Radford, its home for the past three seasons, but whether they can take Radford out of the Big South Tournament is another matter.
Senior guard Shannan Wilkey will lead the Lady Highlanders in their bid for a sixth consecutive championship and the NCAA Division I Tournament bid that, for the first time, will accompany it. Wilkey, Most Valuable Player in the Big South Tournament, averaged a team-high 17.3 points per game.
The departure of starting point guard LaSaundra Siddle wouldn't be quite so damaging if two of her possible replacements, Mindy Ballinger and Jenny Goode, weren't sidelined by ankle injuries. Goode, who has started 30 games the past two seasons, may miss the start of the season.
The biggest surprise in the preseason has been 5-11 Nicky Gardiner, who has shown ability to play every position on the court. Gardiner, a transfer from Casper (Wyo.) Junior College, is one of two Lady Highlanders from New Zealand.
\ ROANOKE: The Lady Maroons, boasting nine players from within a 60-mile radius of Salem, are small as usual but have enough experience - five players played in at least 26 of 27 games - to have a shot at a fifth consecutive NCAA bid.
With the departure of 6-foot-2 Dena Blank, who transferred to Virginia Wesleyan, the only 6-footer on the Maroons' roster is 6-1 freshman Amy Athey from Cave Spring High School. There are five freshmen on Roanoke's 13-player roster, including 5-4 Suzanne Moore from Blacksburg.
Susan Dunagan loses her Nos. 1 and 3 scorers in Debbie Puch and Amy Saunders from last season's 21-6 team, but none of the Maroons averaged more than 12.0 points per game. Kristie Workman, from Radford, led the team in assists with 113 last season as a junior and will team with second-leading scorer Kay Caldwell, a senior from Cave Spring, in the backcourt.
Marcee Hufton, from William Byrd High School, did not start last season as a freshman, but she led the team in 3-pointers (38) and 3-point percentage (46.3) and has the potential to offset some of the lost scoring. Sophomore Paula Kennedy from Salem, one of four players to average between 4.6 and 4.1 rebounds, is the leading candidate to start at center.
\ VIRGINIA: Coach Debbie Ryan doesn't have a problem with anybody calling this a rebuilding season for her team, even though the Cavaliers are ranked No. 10 in the country in the preseason.
"It's the end of an era," said Ryan, who has lost the heart of the team that played in the women's Final Four three consecutive seasons, including guard Dena Evans and 6-5 twins Heather and Heidi Burge. "We're going to rely heavily on youth this year, something that hasn't happened since [1988]."
The lone returning double-figure scorer is 6-2 sophomore Wendy Palmer, who averaged 11.7 points while playing 18 minutes a game, but the Cavaliers signed two of the nation's top prospects in 5-11 Konecka Drakeford and 5-7 Tora Suber.
Virginia also signed 6-4 Tammy Gardner, one of six UVa players who are 6-0 or taller, including 6-6 sophomore Jeffra Gausepohl. The biggest question is point guard, where erstwhile shooting guard Jenny Boucek will run things until Suber is ready to take command.
\ VIRGINIA TECH: The Lady Hokies are coming off the first 20-victory season in school history and have the potential to be better this year with the return of four starters, including second-team All-Metro Conference selection Jenny Root.
"We're not trying to repeat last year," coach Carol Alfano said of a 20-8 finish. "We are trying to go about things differently and create a new piece of history. . . . We are definitely excited about the possibility of postseason play."
Root, a 6-3 post player, was invited to the Olympic Festival after a sophomore year in which she averaged 14.9 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Three other Lady Hokies scored in double figures, including junior forward Christi Osborne (13.7) and junior guard Lisa Leftwich (10.0).
Senior guard Sue Logsdon is the top 3-point threat with the graduation of team MVP Lisa Griffith. Top reserves Angela Donnell in the frontcourt and Terri Garland at guard played more than 500 minutes each last season.
\ WASHINGTON AND LEE: When Dadio scheduled an organizational meeting for the Generals' first women's basketball team, she was greeted by eight players. So, she printed flyers and called a second meeting. That got her one more player.
"Somewhere along the way, one more found out about us," said Dadio, who has 10 players on her roster. "I really didn't know what to expect - maybe 14 players and we'd keep 12. I just hope to get through the year and improve, then recruit some more players."
Dadio, hired at the end of June, did not have the opportunity to recruit for this season's team, which includes nine upperclassmen, most of whom played for W & L's club team. The lone freshman also is the team's tallest player, 6-foot Virginia Yoerg, whose father went to W & L.
The Generals will look to 5-7 senior guard Karen Stutzman for scoring, "but if I had two guards who I could count on to handle the ball, I'd feel a whole lot better," Dadio said.
by CNB