Issue date: 1/31/03 Section: Campus Life

Senior Maggie Harrington shoots from deep.

The women's basketball team started the year on a strong note with a 60-39 win against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology on January 3. Assistant Coach Tommy McMillian said, "The girls worked hard and improved during the break." The win was particularly exciting for the players because Rose-Hulman defeated them twice during the last season.

The next two games, however, presented more difficulty to the Warriors. On January 5, the women played DePauw University, a team that finished in the top four last year in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC). The Warriors lost by a score of 39-60. "That's one of those games where the final score is deceiving. We played well, just not as well as we had hoped," McMillian said. The team lost again in a January 10 game against Centre College. "Our youth and inexperience really showed in that game," McMillian said. The team is playing with two freshmen, two sophomores, and two seniors. The Warriors were ahead by nine points with nine minutes left in the game, but they missed a few crucial shots and allowed Centre to take the lead. "That kind of stuff happens when you have two freshmen as your go-to players. We're asking them to do a lot, and they were playing high school basketball last year," McMillian said. Freshman Erin McKenzie led the Warriors with 18 points.

The Warriors saw better performances in their next two games, on January 12, with 23 points and 13 rebounds. "That was an outstanding game for us, especially since we're only playing with six players now," McMillian said. The team began the year with nine players. The Warriors were triumphant again in a January 15 game against Philander Smith College. "Philander Smith is a very athletic team," McMillian said. McKenzie contributed 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Ball tallied 21 points and 18 rebounds to help give the Warriors the 79-51 victory. "We didn't handle them [Philander Smith] as well as we had hoped, but it was good preparation for Rhodes," McMillian said.

Despite the preparation, the Warriors lost to Rhodes College on January 18. McMillian attributed the loss to several "eight- or nine-minute shooting droughts." The team was only trailing by one point at halftime, but they could not overcome their shooting problems in the second half. The Warriors lost by a score of 52-57. The team's two freshmen, Erin McKenzie and Cacey Smith, scored 47 of the team's 52 points. "We have to do better than that," McMillian said. "We are definitely going to work on balance," McMillian said.

Continued...

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