Women’s basketball: Year of the Lion?

Tony Altobelli

COSTA MESA - The secret is now out.

After three straight Golden State Athletic Conference titles and three

trips to the NAIA National Tournament, there is no more sneaking up and

surprising the rest of the women’s basketball world.

Vanguard University now holds the bull’s-eye.

“We know that everyone is going to be shooting for us,” Coach Russ

Davis said. “But the good thing is that if we stay healthy, I feel we

have the talent to play with anyone in the country.”

The Lions return a whopping 12 players from last year’s 28-7 squad

that finished ranked No. 10 in the NAIA. That depth will be a major asset

with some Lions on the mend with early injuries.

With knee injuries to senior forward Rachel Fikse and sophomore

Paulette Seaman and senior Marissa Emde still recovering from foot

surgery, the Lions are starting the 2000-2001 campaign shorthanded.

Included on that list will be Davis himself, who will have back

surgery and miss a portion of the season.

Fortunately for the Lions, there is still a ton of talent at their

disposal.

Leading the returners include two All-GSAC and All-NAIA honorable

mentions junior center Kelly Boeke and senior guard Becki Huddle.

Boeke averaged 14.6 points and just under 10 rebounds per game, while

Huddle averaged 12.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

Also returning to the mix include sophomore guards Laura Lee and

Robbin Dittenbir.

Lee, an All-GSAC selection a year ago, averaged 14.2 points, while

shooting 39 percent from three-point range.

Dittenbir averaged nine points and eight rebounds early last year

before blowing out her knee 13 games into the season.

“Robin was one of our top two or three players last year before she

got hurt,” Davis said. “Having her back with everyone else brings another

big weapon into our offense.”

The key to the success of the Lions, according to Davis, will be how

the responds to the early-season injuries, as well as a much stiffer

nonconference schedule.

“We might lose a few more games early in the year than we did last

year until everyone gets healthy again,” Davis said. “But I think with

our tougher opponents, that’s going to help us not only in conference

play, but in postseason play as well.”

A pleasant problem for Davis will be trying to fit all these talented

players into each 40-minute game.

“Our starting lineups could change game to game,” Davis said. “We’re

14 deep and we have up to three players deep in every position. It’s

going to come down to the right chemistry and who has the hot hand at

that particular moment.”

Not only have the Lions gotten tougher, so has a majority of the teams

in the GSAC.

“Azusa Pacific is loaded once again,” Davis said. “We’ll be a Top-10

team, I’m guessing when the preseason polls come out. Point Loma has a

lot of their starters returning and Concordia’s always tough. There’s

seven or eight teams that are all right up there, which is great for our

conference.”

According to Davis, the talk around the team is not of conference

titles or even trips to the NAIA Tournament.

“Really, we haven’t even discussed those things just yet,” he said.

“Right now, we just want to play the best we can each game and see how

far that can take us. We have the talent to go a long way, but we’ll just

take it game by game.”

The bad news for the rest of the GSAC is that there are only two

seniors and three juniors on this team. The best could still be yet to

come.

VANGUARD UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

5 Jessica Lenderman 5-5 So. G

11 Beth Weidler 5-8 Jr. G

13 Laura Lee 5-7 So. G

14 Marisa Emde 5-6 Sr. G

15 Becki Huddle 5-6 Sr. G

21 Paulette Seaman 5-10 So. G

24 Kristen Axelson 6-1 So. F

32 Courtney McKinney 6-1 So. C/F

33 Deborah Candelaria 6-0 So. F

34 Robbin Dittenbir 5-7 So. G

44 Rachel Fikse 5-11 Sr. F

50 Kelly Boeke 6-2 Jr. C

Erin Edmiston 5-11 Jr. F

Jill Trader 6-0 Fr. F

Coach - Russ Davis, fifth year (102-33)