With many new faces, Eagles looking for leadership

By Karl Lyles - klyles@heraldonline.com

Winthrop women's basketball will have a brand new look this season with seven new players on the roster, which stands as quite a contrast to the past four seasons, when fans could more or less count on Ashley Fann or Tiffany Rodd to lead the team.

Fann was the inside presence scoring on drives and leading the team in rebounding. Rodd made enough 3-pointers to become the Big South Conference's all-time leader in that category. But Fann and Rodd have graduated along with point guard Yvonne van Daalen. They were Winthrop's nucleus for four years and led the 2008-2009 team to the postseason WNIT for the first time in school history.

The Lady Eagles began last year with huge expectations. When they finished at 16-16, it seemed underwhelming.

The 2009-2010 Lady Eagles don't have those expectations, after being picked to finish sixth in the BSC's preseason poll. No one in the league has a feel for what this team is capable of achieving.

“We are untested, inexperienced and unproven,” sixth-year coach Bud Childers tells anyone that will listen.

If you go by the 65-56 loss in last Saturday's exhibition game to Division II Francis Marion, you might come to the conclusion Winthrop is in for a long season. Childers would have liked to have seen his team win against the talented Patriots, a preseason top 10 team nationally.

Winthrop turned the ball over far too many times (33) which is what generally happens when an inexperienced offense goes against an experienced defense.

“Francis Marion taught us a lot about handling the ball,” Childers said. “We wanted to find out some things about our team, and we did.”

The game's purpose was to see players in game situations that can't be simulated in practice. Late in the exhibition, Childers got such a situation. Tied at 46, he wanted to see who on his team would take the big shot.

The answer was no one.

That didn't come as a surprise. Most of the team has played a career of supporting roles. They haven't had to be “the” player in games, until now. This is their chance to make a mark on Winthrop basketball.

“Now we have time to correct that before the real games begin,” Childers said.

The real games start Friday night in the first round of the preseason WNIT at No. 19 Georgia Tech. The game will be a huge test for Winthrop. They took a 65-27 pounding by the Yellow Jackets on Dec. 18, 2008, at the Bahamas Sunsplash Shootout, and that was with Fann and Rodd on the floor.

All that's left from last year is 18.3 points and 14.8 rebounds a game — the combined totals of the returning players. The experience lies at the guard spots, where the Lady Eagles have four seniors and a junior transfer.

Shanice Cole, Kathi Ryska and Jessica Fansler are the seniors. Shelly Hankins is a fifth-year senior. Lacey Lyons is a sharp-shooting transfer from Coastal Carolina. All are being counted on for points, ball handling and leadership.

Each player brings different talents to the floor.

Cole is 5-foot, 11-inches of muscle. She played mostly the three and four slots last year off the bench. She has shown she is capable of handling the point as well. Childers talked about the possibility of Cole being the starting point guard this season on the night the 2008-2009 campaign ended at Georgetown. Cole averaged 5.4 points and 4.1 rebounds a game as a junior.

“Shanice might be the most versatile player in the country this year,” Childers said.

“She has impressed us so far with her potential at the lead guard spot. Cole is going to be a key for us.”

When Cole drives to the basket in practice, there isn't a player that can defend her. She showed last season that she can post up and score in the paint. And, she can be one of the best offensive rebounders in the conference on any given night.

“She brings great physicality and energy,” assistant coach Chris Vozab said.

The team seems to run most effectively with Ryska running the point. Her teammates respond to her and feed off her gritty attitude. Ryska is one of the better defenders in the league and gets fired up taking a hard charge from opponents.