Published: Thursday, Jan. 08, 2009 / Updated: Thursday, Jan. 08, 2009 07:46 AM

Winthrop basketball teams back on court Saturday

Basketball dominates the Winthrop sports calendar again through the middle of next week. But the indoor track season resumes soon, and golf is on the horizon, along with softball and baseball.

SAME PLACE, DIFFERENT TIME -- The women's basketball team's game Saturday against Liberty will tipoff at 2 p.m. rather than the previously planned 7 p.m. start time. The change was formalized Monday. Fans of the hardcore variety now have an opportunity to see the women take on the always-tough Lady Flames, then drive 65 miles to Clinton to see the men play at 7 p.m. at Presbyterian.

HOW MANY MILES? -- Anne-Marie Nyhof, mother of women's basketball senior Yvonne van Daalen, is in town to see her daughter play. She has seen Winthrop games each season. This year, she will attend three contests, all at the Winthrop Coliseum, but they are all road games for her.

Nyhof drove two hours from her home in the city of Rosmalen, The Netherlands, to an airport in Brussels, Belgium. From there, she flew 3,760 miles to Philadelphia, then caught a 426-mile flight to Charlotte.

BASKETBALL TICKETS -- Tickets for the men's basketball game scheduled for 7 p.m. on Jan. 31 against the Charlotte 49ers are on sale at the Winthrop box office. Tickets cost $20 each.

Also, tickets for the upcoming men's and women's basketball doubleheader on Jan. 17 are as follows: Side court -- $12, End court -- $10, Group Rate (10 or more) -- $5.

The women take on Coastal Carolina at 5 p.m., followed by a 7 p.m. tipoff for the men's game against UNC Asheville.

WHICH BENCH? -- Win- throp women's basketball coach Bud Childers, searching for ways to get his team to score more points, switched where the team sits during home games. So far, so good. Winthrop beat Johnson C. Smith by 23 points Tuesday.

GOLF AND CRITTERS -- The women's golf team will participate in the Kiawah Island Women's Intercollegiate Feb. 22-24. Winthrop coach Jodi Wendt is excited about the competition her team will see there. She said 42 schools will take part in the tournament.

The last time Winthrop played at Kiawah, the team counted 19 alligators on the course. Officials had to move one of the tee boxes because a reptile had claimed it as a sunning spot.

MEN'S SOCCER -- Winthrop has four players on the Major League Soccer (MLS) draft list. Two players, Otto Loewy and Daniel Revivo, were invited to the MLS Player Combine.

Goalkeeper Patrick Mitrovich is ranked as the 22nd goalkeeper in the draft; defenders Henry Kalungi and Loewy are ranked 45th and 22nd, respectively. Revivo who ranks 13th among forwards.

Winthrop coach Rich Posipanko said the rankings change on a regular basis and have very little bearing on if or where a player is drafted.

"It is impressive to have four players from one institution on the MLS draft list," he said.

The MLS SuperDraft consists of four rounds, making it difficult to get drafted.

Sean Weron, a former soccer player for Posipanko who graduated in 2007, has been hired in the sales department with FC Dallas of Major League Soccer. He starts his new position on January 12.