THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9511020513
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JULIE GOODRICH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 51 lines
Another year, another season where the Old Dominion Lady Monarchs are favored to win the Colonial Athletic Association championship.
That's how a vote of media representatives and CAA coaches turned out Wednesday at the conference's annual Media Day for men's and women's basketball teams. With five starters returning to a team that is gunning for its fifth straight CAA title, it's no surprise that confidence in the Lady Monarchs is high.
``They're the prohibitive favorite,'' said James Madison coach Sheila Moorman, whose Dukes were voted number two in the preseason poll.
League newcomer Virginia Commonwealth was voted third, followed by Richmond, George Mason, East Carolina, American, William and Mary, and UNC-Wilmington.
ODU head coach Wendy Larry has a lot to work with. The Lady Monarchs return the league's player and rookie of the year - Clarisse Machanguana and Ticha Penicheiro - and add one of the CAA's most heralded rookies, Mery Andrade of Portugal.
``The emphasis this year is going to be on offense,'' Larry said. ``I'm a fanatic about defense, and the team believes in our defensive system, but in the past we haven't spent as much time as we needed to be more effective offensively.''
CATCHING UP WITH ANNE: Although accepting the head coaching job at East Carolina was a good career move, former ODU assistant and Hall of Famer Anne Donovan admitted that it's been a difficult transition.
``Describing myself and the former coach (Rosie Thompson) as like night and day is appropriate,'' Donovan said. ``It's been a tremendous change for the players.''
After an adjustment period, Donovan's new team has started to embrace her style of coaching. But separating from the players she recruited and coached at ODU is still bittersweet.
``There was a coaching position I looked at taking two years ago, and I could not get over the fact that I'd have to leave those players. I couldn't do it. But I learned that there's never a right time,'' Donovan said. ``That bond is an incredible thing. It's hard to look back and realize I severed it.''
PRESEASON HONORS: ODU had two players, Machanguana and Penicheiro, voted to the preseason all-conference team. Also named were JMU's Sarah Schreib, ECU's Tomekia Blackmon, and GMU's Keri Chaconas. by CNB