Team's expectations high

By Matt Holsapple
Summer Reporter

After winning three Big Ten championships and an NCAA championship in the past three years, the Purdue women's basketball team is looking ahead to another successful year.

This season the Boilermakers return four starters, one of them a second team All-American, and adds what is considered the second best recruiting class in the country.

Coach Kristy Curry, said that she had high hopes for next season. "It's a brand new year. We have a great blend of returning players and incoming talent," said Curry.

The Purdue program is becoming a major national power. In the '90s, it was one of only a few teams to participate in more than one Final Four. The team made the Final Four in 1994 under coach Lin Dunn. In 1999, the Boilers won the entire NCAA, led by Stephanie McCarty, Ukari Figgs and first-year coach Carolyn Peck. Dunn, McCarty, Figgs and Peck are now active in the WNBA.

The excitement of past years has led to a team that is consistently one of the best in the nation. Even last season, one that was considered a rebuilding season by many, was successful. The team had lost its coach and the players, Figgs and McCarty, who were responsible for scoring around 70 percent of its points. They were counted out by almost everyone affiliated with NCAA women's basketball; however, they spent almost the entire season in the top twenty of the associated press poll and won the Big Ten Tournament, beating eventual Final Four participant Penn State.

Last season also saw Katie Douglas emerge as a star, being named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a second-team All-American. Douglas was also in contention for National Player of the Year Awards.

Douglas forms the core of a nucleus that Curry said she has high hopes for in the 2000-2001 season.

The team has lost only one starter from last year, Michelle Duhart. Curry said that the team will feel that loss, but she is confident that the other returning players will fill her absence well.

"You miss the leadership and experience. The thing that is so exciting, though, is the returning nucleus. That's pretty exciting. We have great returning players."

In addition to that returning nucleus, Curry is also bringing a recruiting class that is considered by many to be one of the top two in the nation. Curry said that she is excited about the incoming students, but she doesn't want to place unreasonable pressure on them.

"The biggest challenge this year was to bring a big (recruiting) class. They are very talented, but they are also freshmen. Academically and athletically there will be an adjustment," said Curry.

Athletic Director Morgan Burke agreed with Curry. "We have the leadership of the kids returning - Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper, Kelly Komara, Shinika Parks, Candi Crawford, Mo-Nique Langston, and Mary Jo Noon. That is the key. A lot of people are writing and talking about the new class, but their have not been a lot of freshmen-dominated teams that have been able to achieve the highest kind of success," he said.

"They're young people, and they need to get adjusted like all other freshmen."

Along with success has come much higher and regular attendance at games. Last season, Purdue was in the top five in the nation for women's basketball attendance. That attendance averaged 10,000 spectators a game.

George Ade, ticket manager for Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics, said that he attributes the success of the team to the increase in game attendance. "The success of the program last year, and over the past several years, has played a big part in that," Ade said.

According to athletic director Morgan Burke, the increased attendance is due to a combination of the success of the Purdue program and the increased interest in women's basketball on the whole.

He said that Purdue has had some great players over the past years and the fans have really taken an interest in them as players and as people, but this would probably not have happened if it were not for the increased focus on women's sports.

Burke said that despite the high level of attendance at Purdue, there is nowhere near the number of students that there could be.

Attendance to women's basketball game is included in both the student gold rush and platinum cards.

"There are over 4,000 students with gold rush cards," said Burke. "If all of these students went to the game, we would be close to a

sell out every game.

"I would encourage new students to come out and try it. Once they see the quality of the team and the atmosphere of the games, I am sure they'll want to come back."

The support of the large number of fans is important to the success of the team, said Curry. "There are very few programs across the country that have that kind of support."

Next season's schedule features several highlights. The team will play power teams Notre Dame, Boston College, Stanford, LSU and Penn State, among others. Penn State, Stanford and LSU will be playing in Mackey Arena.

They will also be hosting games in the WNIT; that tournament will also include perennial powers like Louisiana Tech, Texas and Virginia.