The state of Women’s Basketball

by Aren Dow, Alestle Managing Editor

Maybe it’s not looking so bad after all.

After starting out 2-15 for the season, the SIUE women’s squad has come out with victory in three of their last five games, including their lone win on the road. The Cougars most recently bested future Ohio Valley Conference foe UT Martin, bringing their imaginary conference record to 2-1.

I unfortunately missed the game because of a little thing called class, but caught a few highlights on Channel 10 to see the Cougars in action. They looked the same as they have all year – resilient and determined. No matter what kind of funk this team gets into, they never give up. Whatever Coach Amanda Levens is selling to her players, it’s working. And recently, it’s producing wins.

Here’s a list of the deficits they’ve closed (or almost closed) in the second half this season

• Valparaiso – down 19, closed to within six (1:11 left)
• Wichita State – down 21, closed to within five (0:34 left)
• Northern Kentucky – down 7, won by three
• Eastern Kentucky – down 21, closed to within three (0:57 left)
• UT Martin – down 8, won by three

The two words encompassing the resiliency of the Cougars – Ashley Bey. She will take the game into her hands when she needs to, whether to sacrifice her body to draw a foul, up her outstanding defense and/or find the open shooter. You can tell the team feeds off her energy as well. Ashley doesn’t seem like a strong vocal leader, but her play does enough to rally the rest of the team around her.

Bey only has a few games left as a Cougar, but she is making every one count. Her stat line in the UT Martin is plain ridiculous – eight points, nine rebounds, seven steals and six assists. When UT Martin crept to a three point lead with five minutes left, it was Bey who had two consecutive steals and assists to permanently give SIUE the lead.

The team’s recent success, I think, it mainly due to the team improving as a whole. Besides Bey, Sydney Stahlberg and Whitney Champlin, every other player is a freshman or sophomore. Besides Bey, Melia Duncan, Madison Meade and Kate Affourtit, everyone on the team was brand new playing for SIUE.

In the first few games of the season, SIUE ran the high-low from Bey to Raven Berry seemingly every other play. It was for good reason, that was how they scored much of their points. This team has evolved since then, Duncan has a killer three-pointer when she finds her shot and Michaela Herrod is a valuable post presence.

Tangent on Duncan – Levens talked after the South Dakota game about how Duncan doesn’t know how good she really is. Which you can see. Melia will put up 20 and say afterwards, “I guess I had a good game.” She is very humble about her game. She’ll make the extra pass sometimes, even if she is open. The game against South Dakota showed her potential – 7-10 shooting and 3-4 behind the arc (the lone three-pointer was a last-ditch shot as the shot clock ran out). The ceiling is awfully high…

Of course, it doesn’t hurt SIUE to play teams similar to them either. Winning on the road against Wisconsin, Northwestern and Wichita State just isn’t realistic, playing teams in OVC gives a better gauge of where this team is.

Right now, it doesn’t look too bad.

They’ve lost some close games and gave up a few leads, but as I said before they can pull the same trick. All three of their games against OVC schools have been extremely close – all have been decided by five points or less. Is it any coincidence all three games were won by the home team? Probably not.

Where we are, I like seeing that.

I get a sense, even though we are in our transitional phase, we aren’t playing like it. SIUE is competing at a level where we can compete with any other school in the conference. They’ve beat four D-I teams, which is already three more than last year. That’s all you can ask for from this team. In time, the Wisconsin’s and Northwestern’s will become more of a match-up.

The rest of the schedule (besides Miami (FL) and the Robert Morris exhibition), is a great schedule for the Cougars to end with some noise. Every school is either in the OVC next year or an independent school like we are at the moment.

To win three or four more games would be absolutely fantastic. We have the toughest OVC team at home in Eastern Illinois, all other OVC schools are on the road. The Cougars have come within five points to winning a D-I game on the road this season, and to win one or two would show the progress made this year.

The two-hour drive to Southeast Missouri State (their next game – Tuesday at 5:30) is actually the shortest drive to any other school in the OVC. (I think Eastern Illinois loses by 11 miles or so). Make the trip if you can, and cheer on the young, talented team. You won’t be disappointed.

SIUE Women get first victory, knock off Morehead State

This time, it counts.

Coming off of a 12-point exhibition win over UMSL, SIUE’s women’s basketball team rode the momentum into Friday’s game against Morehead State and knocked off the Eagles, 67-64.

The Cougars held off the Eagles after MSU came within one with 31 seconds left in the game. A huge contributing factor to the Cougars late hold was Ashley Bey. She led the way for the Cougars, netting 18 points and 5 steals. Bey also made 10-12 free throws and held strong in the clutch  – scoring three in the last 25 seconds of the game.

After an 11-2 run by MSU to end the first, the Cougars were down 30-35 entering the second half. A lay-up by Whitney Champlin put them up 38-37, they never trailed again.

Raven Berry followed up her impressive exhibition performance, scoring 15 points and grabbing 9 rebounds. Berry was aggressive in the paint and drew several fouls. Even after coming down hard, which she needed to come out of the game, Berry fought through the pain and helped the Cougars back on track late in the second.

Bey and Berry really carried the team in the second half. Both came out of the locker room with a ton of intensity and helped right the ship for the Cougars. Bey had two steals and a couple of fast breaks to get the Cougars back in the game early in the second. She closed out the game, not only with the free throws, but forcing the Eagles to turn the ball over twice.

Bey never gives up on a play either. There was a play late in the second where MSU had a fast break and about to turn the tide of the game. MSU had a steal and four players ahead of the Cougars down the floor. The MSU player tried to lob it over Bey, but Bey stole it and turned the play around, preserving SIUE’s lead.

Melia Duncan carried the Cougars in the first half, scoring all of her 12 points. Whitney Champlin, who Levens said is coming off of a shin injury, scored six points, grabbed eight rebounds, and four blocks in 25 minutes. She and Berry helped the Cougars to a 34-20 point margin in the paint. They closed of lanes to opposing players driving the lane. When the Eagles weren’t shooting a three-pointer, they only converted 30 percent of their shots.

This was a big win. To start out well, and against a team supposed to be good is promising for this team. They have ton of scoring options as well. Bey, Duncan, Meade, and Berry have all scored in double figures so far, and Champlin has a chance to join that group as well once she is healthy. Having the option of scoring inside with Berry and Champlin brings a dimension the Cougars did not have last year.

Winning against UMSL was a confidence booster, this win puts SIUE on a whole other level. Sunday brings another test in UW-Milwaukee, but hopefully having a big crowd can be another boost to completing a 2-0 start. I’ll have a breakdown of the game Saturday on the site, so keep checking back.

So far, it looks to be an exciting year for women’s basketball. Come out and support them at noon Sunday.

Box Score

Women’s basketball poised to improve in 2009-10

By Aren Dow

As noted by my colleague, the basketball season is nearly underway. Just two weeks from now, we will have regular season games at the Vadalabene and hopefully the stadium will be rocking.

Home-field advantage was coined for a reason, the home team feeds off the energy of the crowd. For women’s basketball, they have a great opportunity to start a season off on a high note if they can manage an a home victory against Morehead St. or UW- Milwaukee.

The University has made a, literally, huge promotion of women’s basketball. A 30-foot schedule is on the VC and shows every home game for the Cougars. Talking to senior point guard Ashley Bey, she said she was surprised when I saw it. I was too. First, that the University really started promoting athletics, and second, that it was women’s basketball. It was a nods of approval when I first saw the schedule, then a noticeable double-take when I saw it was for women’s basketball.

Few universities would promote their women’s program over the men’s. Talking to the players and coaches, they appreciate the promotion. Hopefully, no matter what is up there, it reminds students the school is committed to have entertaining and successful programs at SIUE.

As with many of the teams right now, they are in rebuilding phase. Moving to D-I also meant moving on with coaches and personnel. Many of those coaches just had their first chance to recruit at the D-I level and show what they can contribute.

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Amanda Levens is one of those coaches. Last year was her first year, and she brought in Bey, Madison Meade, Kate Affourtit, and Marquia Taylor. Bey was outstanding, setting a SIUE record for steals (112) and added 9.4 points per game. Meade chipped in 7.4 ppg and Affourtit had 4.4 ppg. Affourtit was one of the better shooters from behind the arc for the Cougars, shooting 31 percent.

While the Cougars finished just 5-24 for the season, they played much better at home with a record of 4-7. The Cougars had their lone road win at Wisconsin Parkside, 52-51.

And when the Cougars take on Morehead State Nov. 14 to start the season, they will do so at home.

SIUE faced off with the Eagles last year at Morehead St., losing 77-63. It was just the third game of the season for the Cougars and the points rested within those who had been with the program.

Morehead State has lost just one starter this year, but it is a big absence. 6’3″ Brittany Pittman, the Eagles’ center last year, was a main part of their offense and defense. Pittman averaged 11.9 ppg, second on the team and 10.1 rebounds. She also had 164 blocks, making her a focal point for the team.

Last year, Jenny Wuest was the Cougars tallest player at 5’11”. Even though coaches and players testify Wuest played well beyond her height, having taller players does make a difference. 6′ 3″ Whitney Champlin, who transfered here from Oregan State, gives a much needed boost in size.

Now the Eagles center is a freshman and it seems the roles have been reversed. SIUE holds the size advantage and the home court advantage. If Champlin can step up in her first game as a Cougar and control the boards, SIUE has a real chance to open their season with a win.

The second consecutive home game is against Milwaukee. The Panthers played SIUE early last season as well and dominated 88-65, and as with Morehead St, this was also on the road. The Panthers locked down the boards with a 58-27 margin and shot over 50 percent from the field. This is a much less likely win than Morehead State.

The Cougars then start a five game road trip, beginning with Valparaiso and including Northwestern, Loyola, New Mexico St., and Stephen F. Austin.

Northwestern and Loyola are both bottom of the barrel for their conferences. Loyola did beat SIUE last year, mostly because their defense held the Cougars to 23 percent shooting. Size plagued this game as well as Loyola outscored SIUE 32-20 in the paint. These will be tough games for the Cougars considering they are on the road.

SIUE has the chance to be very good. They were awfully limited in size last year; out rebounded 1296-1059 for the season. If Champlin can provide an interior presence, they can be dangerous.

This team could be 2-3, even 3-2 to start off the season. As stated before, two factors will be involved: Size and depth. If the Cougars can lead a balanced attack and receive scoring off of the bench, they should obliterate last year’s record.