Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160041
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV7 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Unless, of course, you happened to know Goode.
"I don't think so," said coach Luby Lichonczak when asked if he was surprised by Goode's becoming such a good scorer. "Before she got hurt last year [a broken left foot that caused Goode to miss the first nine games], she was showing a lot of offensive ability."
The Highlanders lost three of their top four scorers - and an average of 40 points per game from the 1993-94 lineup - to graduation and transfers. So, someone had to take up the slack. And that someone has been Goode.
Through 19 games, the 5-foot-7 two guard leads the team in scoring (11.5 points per game), three-pointers (81), assists (68), steals (45) and minutes played (553).
"The years before my role wasn't to score, I had more of a defensive role," said Goode, whose career-high for scoring in a game prior to this season was 11 points - less than what she is averaging per game this year. "This year, we lost [to graduation] Shannan [Wilkey] and Samantha [Gilbert]. The coaches asked me to do more scoring, if I could."
Goode showed how good a scorer she could be in the first game this season when she poured in a career-high 22 points against Georgia State. So far, she has led the team in scoring four times and tallied in double-figures on five other occasions.
"The points are not a big deal," said Goode, an elementary education major. "If I can get the ball to someone else to score, I would just as soon do that."
Making this performance even more amazing is that Goode played out of position at point guard early in the season, suffered a sprained ankle that caused her to miss one game and has drawn the defensive assignment against the other team's top offensive threat, all while adjusting to her new offensive role and a new offense.
"This year, more than anything else as far as the offensive is concerned, we've been more free to create, whereas before we've had to go here and go there," on offense, Goode explained. "It's been hard for me. Sometimes, I think I'm more of a robot out there. I'm trying to break old habits that I've learned my first three years here and go out and play an up-and-down game."
Of course, nothing should be considered amazing where Goode is concerned. She was a second-team, all-state Group AA selection at Tabb High in York County her senior year and ended her career as the school's all-time leading scorer. She then came to Radford as a walk-on and worked her way into the starting lineup by the end of her freshman year.
"She came to see me the summer before and indicated she wanted to try out," Lichonczak said. "I gave her a packet of information about what she needed to do. I saw her at the [high school] all-star game after that. I made no promises about a scholarship, a starting position or making the team.
"I have a number of young women who talk to me in the summer. And most of them I never see in the fall. She [Goode] showed up. She had worked hard to get ready. And she continued to get better and better in everything we were doing."
For Goode, the performance was a matter of necessity. Her parents, Dave and B.J. Goode, moved to Florida after her father retired from the military, meaning Virginia was no longer home.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to play in college," said Goode "I applied to five schools and I really liked Radford. So we decided if I tried out and got a scholarship, I could stay. Thank God it all worked out."
Now, Goode hopes the last chapter of her career works out - a return trip to the NCAA tournament. The Highlanders could earn the honor by winning the Big South tournament which they host March 8-11.
"It would just be a dream, going to the NCAAs two years in a row, especially since it's my senior year," said Goode.
HALL OF FAME: Come August, Radford University will have a place to honor its rich sports history.
"Back in the fall, we got a committee together to see what kind of interest there would be," said Tom Lillard, the executive director of the RU Athletic Association. "We had an overwhelming response."
The hall will cover both athletic eras at Radford - the present era of intercollegiate sports for men's and women's teams and the former era of an all-women's college with the emphasis on intramural activities. And that has the participants from the former era particularly interested.
"They are excited to still be part of Radford athletics," said Lillard. "And they are excited about where RU athletics is today."
At present, the committee is deciding on guidelines for selecting honorees. It has sent more than 1,300 information forms to former athletes, coaches and contributors. And its members have talked to every school in the state and the Atlantic Coast Conference about their halls.
"We want it to be first class, right off the bat," said Lillard.
The goal is to select a very prestigious group of three to five honorees for the first class.
The most likely day for the official enshrinement is the annual athletic association banquet, scheduled for Aug. 18. And it is possible that one of the inductees will act as emcee at the banquet.
A display honoring the members of the Hall of Fame will be placed in the lounge of the Dedmon Center, the same room where trophies won by the RU teams are located.
UPCOMING EVENTS: The men's basketball continues its four-game road trip until returning to RU for the regular-season finale against Liberty on Feb. 25. The Big South tourney is March 3-5 at Liberty.
Meanwhile, the women's basketball team will play four of its last five regular season games at the Dedmon Center: Friday vs. Charleston Southern, Saturday vs. Coastal Carolina, March 1 vs. Maryland Baltimore County and March 4 vs. Liberty.
The men's gymnastics team is at home Sunday against William & Mary. Both the men and the women host James Madison Feb. 25.
The baseball team has a five-game tour of Florida before playing at Virginia Tech Feb. 25 and at Virginia Commonwealth Feb. 28.
The softball team opens its season at the East Carolina Tournament Feb. 24-26.
And the lacrosse team has a scrimmage in Blacksburg against Catonsville (Md.) on Saturday.
by CNB