Team prepares for start of
season
Starters add new
dimension to every
position
By Anne McLaren
Assistant
Sports Editor
With six freshmen, the women’s
basketball team has more depth at every position this season.
Last season’s starters
— Katie Douglas, Camille Cooper, Kelly Komara, Shinika Parks and
Michelle Duhart — averaged 37.5, 28.5, 34.3, 34.5 and 33.3 minutes
per game, respectively.
Coach Kristy Curry is hoping
to rest the starters more this season with a deeper bench.
The Boilers have made the
change from a perimeter-oriented team with former Boilers Stephanie
McCarty and Ukari Figgs to a post-oriented team.
Curry said, "Definitely,
I think our lack of depth at the perimeter has helped spur that change.
So you kind of just take the personnel you have. I love to go inside
first and outside second. I think that makes your perimeter game stronger
too because that also opens things up outside."
Curry broke her team down,
position by position.
Guard
"We’re going to
look for Erika Valek to play the (point guard-position), along with
Cherrise Graham and Kelly Komara," said Curry.
Valek, a freshman, is the
starting point guard for the Boilers. The Lubbock, Texas, native started
both exhibition games and scored 19 and 13 points, respectively. Valek
averaged 25.3 points, 8.3 assists, 5.6 steals and 5.5 rebounds per game
as a senior at Coronado High School.
Komara will start at shooting
guard. Curry said that she expects a lot from Komara, who averaged 10.9
points, 3.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game last season.
"We’ll look to
her for scoring," said Curry. "We expect her to make good
decisions with the basketball. We expect some leadership from her."
Graham will probably get
a lot of minutes in a reserve role. Other players who will see time
at shooting guard are Parks, freshman Beth Jones, senior Monique Langston
and freshman Shereka Wright.
Parks averaged 8.3 points
per game as a starter last season.
Wright scored 14 points against
Tapiolan Honka and 13 points against the Mexican national team. In high
school, Wright averaged 25.4 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. She
was named the player of the year by several award-giving bodies, including
USA Today, Rawlings/WBCA and Gatorade.
At the three-guard, or small
forward position, senior All-American Douglas will start. The preseason
Big Ten player of the year led Purdue in points, minutes, steals and
assists a year ago and was second in rebounds with numbers of 20.4,
37.5, 2.4, 4.5 and 6.5, respectively.
At Big Ten Media Day, Sunday
Oct. 29 in Chicago, conference coaches had words of praise for Douglas.
"I use her as an example
with my team," said Wisconsin coach Jane Albright. "I told
them at the end of the season, ‘quite frankly none of you are as
in good physical condition — Katie plays 40 minutes a game constantly.’
"My point is that a
lot of her fundamental strength comes from her physical conditioning.
I am absolutely sure of it. And we have used her as an example in our
program to say that you better be stronger, quicker and have better
endurance."
Douglas will also see some
time at shooting guard and at power forward, Curry said.
Other players who will see
time at three-guard are Parks, Langston, and Wright.
Forward
Senior Candi Crawford will
start at power forward. Crawford started one game last season against
Indiana State; she scored seven points and hit the game-winning shot
in that game. Crawford has earned Academic All-Big Ten honors for the
past two years.
Backing up Crawford will
be freshman Shalicia Hurns. Hurns had 8 points and 11 rebounds against
Tapiolan Honka and 16 points and 10 rebounds against the Mexican national
team.
Curry said Hurns is the best
rebounder that she has ever recruited. She expects Hurns to assume the
rebounding role that Duhart played the last few seasons.
Freshman Lindsey Hicks will
also see some playing time at power forward. Hicks, who is from Lebanon,
Ohio, averaged 23 points and seven rebounds as a senior at Lebanon High
School. She will also play the small forward position, Curry said.
Center
Senior Camille Cooper, a
preseason Naismith Award candidate, completes the starting lineup at
center. Cooper averaged 15.3 points per game and shot 58.2 percent from
the field a year ago.
"There's no question that
she has an incredibly bright future," said Curry. "It's just
how far she wants to take it and how far she wants to go. She can be
very good at the next level."
Redshirt sophomore Mary Jo
Noon is Cooper’s backup. Noon averaged 4.8 points per game a season
ago but averaged 13.5 points in the two exhibitions.
"You can tell Mary Jo
is quicker, she’s faster, she’s in better condition,"
said Curry. "She is much better than she was a year ago. Her next
two years are incredibly bright."
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