Post by ATrain on Nov 12, 2005 23:35:24 GMT -5
Appearing in the LU Fishwrap, a season preview written by your's truly...yes, thats right, I'm covering the Ladies BBall and VBall...the two hottest teams on campus...W00T!!! ;D
The Lady Flames basketball team looks to build upon last season’s success that culminated in a trip to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA tournament. Liberty is picked to win its ninth straight Big South Conference regular season title, and hopes to win the Big South tournament for the 10th consecutive time.
Many in the Big South feel that they can end the Lady Flames dynasty this year, now that four starters, including 6’8” Katie Feenstra, have graduated. Head Coach Carey Green begs to differ.
“Our philosophy has always been to play a lot of people and develop our young talent early. When I go into homes recruiting, we have been able to say that we’ve had some players averaging double figures playing minutes, so our philosophy has always been one that will develop our young players. Last year we had 11 players averaging over ten minutes of playing time, so following our philosophy, we should not have a down year. Obviously, when you lose a 6-8 first round draft choice, you can not replace that. There are going to be some adjustments. Our team is going to be a different team, with a different chemistry. Its a young team, but in some areas we are more talented. I do not think we are going to miss too many beats right now. Yes we are a different team and we have a different style. Our competition is pretty tough too. We are looking forward to this season, we don’t think its going to be anything less than giving our very best. So we are very excited, and excited about the talent we currently have on this team.”
Green is not exaggerating when he calls this a young team, as there are no seniors this season. Part of that young talent is returning sophomore guard Allyson Fasnacht, who scored 18 points in Liberty’s first round upset of Penn St. in the NCAA tournament, sophomore Roli-Ann Nikagbatse who had eight points and 13 rebounds in the upset against 17th ranked Kansas State and 6’5” sophomore forward Egle Smigelskaite. They are joined by a set of 6’3” triplets, Megan, Mollie, and Moriah Frazee; 6’2” guard Rebecca Lightfoot; 5’9” guard Rachel Hammond and 5’9” guard Alexandria Bream. Juniors Karolina Piotrkiewicz, Michelle Parker, Jamie Feagin, and Leslie Jones will be looked at to lead the team. This young squad will face the toughest overall schedule in the history of Lady Flames basketball, which contains visits to ACC schools North Carolina State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech and SEC school Florida. Also on the schedule is Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island and Southern Methodist University of Conference-USA will visit the Vines Center.
“No doubt there is some apprehension playing against some talented non-conference teams. We have got a pretty young and talented team, and these are big challenges that are not going to be fatal to us. Its a long season, these are great opportunities for us to measure ourselves. We are obviously not going to be where we want to be right now, regardless of who we are playing. We’re looking at a longer vision down the road into conference play and getting prepared for the conference tournament and opportunity to go into the NCAA tournament which is where it really pays off. Having three teams from ACC and one from the SEC are going to be huge challenges for a very young team. Failure is not fatal at this time early in the season, if we fail or win big games it will be a teacher. We are looking on down the road at being able to compete with these types of teams towards the end of the season. I have a lot of confidence in the talent we have on the team right now. We need some time to gel, get the chemistry together and learn how to play with one another. A lot of them are coming from different programs and it just takes some time and experience to get where we want to get.”
The Big South Conference looks to present a bigger challenge to the Lady Flames this year. High Point and UNC-Asheville, voted to finish second and third respectively, return several of their key players. Winthrop’s Lady Eagles found someone who is nearly as tall as Katie Feenstra in 6’6” center Lisa Koop from Germany. However, with a tough non-conference schedule designed to prepare an extremely talented young Lady Flames squad, it is doubtful that anyone in the Big South will be able to end their reign this year.
The Lady Flames basketball team looks to build upon last season’s success that culminated in a trip to the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA tournament. Liberty is picked to win its ninth straight Big South Conference regular season title, and hopes to win the Big South tournament for the 10th consecutive time.
Many in the Big South feel that they can end the Lady Flames dynasty this year, now that four starters, including 6’8” Katie Feenstra, have graduated. Head Coach Carey Green begs to differ.
“Our philosophy has always been to play a lot of people and develop our young talent early. When I go into homes recruiting, we have been able to say that we’ve had some players averaging double figures playing minutes, so our philosophy has always been one that will develop our young players. Last year we had 11 players averaging over ten minutes of playing time, so following our philosophy, we should not have a down year. Obviously, when you lose a 6-8 first round draft choice, you can not replace that. There are going to be some adjustments. Our team is going to be a different team, with a different chemistry. Its a young team, but in some areas we are more talented. I do not think we are going to miss too many beats right now. Yes we are a different team and we have a different style. Our competition is pretty tough too. We are looking forward to this season, we don’t think its going to be anything less than giving our very best. So we are very excited, and excited about the talent we currently have on this team.”
Green is not exaggerating when he calls this a young team, as there are no seniors this season. Part of that young talent is returning sophomore guard Allyson Fasnacht, who scored 18 points in Liberty’s first round upset of Penn St. in the NCAA tournament, sophomore Roli-Ann Nikagbatse who had eight points and 13 rebounds in the upset against 17th ranked Kansas State and 6’5” sophomore forward Egle Smigelskaite. They are joined by a set of 6’3” triplets, Megan, Mollie, and Moriah Frazee; 6’2” guard Rebecca Lightfoot; 5’9” guard Rachel Hammond and 5’9” guard Alexandria Bream. Juniors Karolina Piotrkiewicz, Michelle Parker, Jamie Feagin, and Leslie Jones will be looked at to lead the team. This young squad will face the toughest overall schedule in the history of Lady Flames basketball, which contains visits to ACC schools North Carolina State, North Carolina, and Virginia Tech and SEC school Florida. Also on the schedule is Atlantic 10 foe Rhode Island and Southern Methodist University of Conference-USA will visit the Vines Center.
“No doubt there is some apprehension playing against some talented non-conference teams. We have got a pretty young and talented team, and these are big challenges that are not going to be fatal to us. Its a long season, these are great opportunities for us to measure ourselves. We are obviously not going to be where we want to be right now, regardless of who we are playing. We’re looking at a longer vision down the road into conference play and getting prepared for the conference tournament and opportunity to go into the NCAA tournament which is where it really pays off. Having three teams from ACC and one from the SEC are going to be huge challenges for a very young team. Failure is not fatal at this time early in the season, if we fail or win big games it will be a teacher. We are looking on down the road at being able to compete with these types of teams towards the end of the season. I have a lot of confidence in the talent we have on the team right now. We need some time to gel, get the chemistry together and learn how to play with one another. A lot of them are coming from different programs and it just takes some time and experience to get where we want to get.”
The Big South Conference looks to present a bigger challenge to the Lady Flames this year. High Point and UNC-Asheville, voted to finish second and third respectively, return several of their key players. Winthrop’s Lady Eagles found someone who is nearly as tall as Katie Feenstra in 6’6” center Lisa Koop from Germany. However, with a tough non-conference schedule designed to prepare an extremely talented young Lady Flames squad, it is doubtful that anyone in the Big South will be able to end their reign this year.