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Lady
‘Toppers Seek Three Peat
The West Liberty State College women’s basketball team is
favored to defend its WVIAC regular season title and capture the WVIAC
tournament for the third consecutive year.
The Lady ‘Toppers received 13 of a possible 14 first place
votes in the annual pre-season coaches poll, the third time West
Liberty has been voted number one in the last five years.
Although the ‘Toppers have lost five prominent players from
last year’s team, there is still plenty of talent left for West
Liberty to make a serious title run.
Coach Lynn Ullom will rely on a trio
of senior captains to hopefully continue the tradition of excellence
that Ullom’s teams have demonstrated for most of the last decade.
Leading the pack will be senior point guard Adrianne
Harlow (5-1) who was the national assist champion and a WVIAC First
Team performer in the 1999-2000 campaign.
The spunky point guard enjoyed a brilliant all-around year also
leading the conference in three point shooting percentage (44.4%) and
probably minutes played. With
a big season, Harlow will almost surely move into the upper tier on the
NCAA II career assist chart which ironically is held by Joanna Bernabei,
a former ‘Topper point guard.
Many of Harlow’s assists should find their way into the hands
of shooting guard Katie Bohus (5-8),
who for the last two years has led the WVIAC in three point field
goals. Bohus drained
eighty-eight three point field goals last year and enters this season
with a WVIAC all-time best 253 three point field goals, which places
her fourteenth on the all-time NCAA list.
The long range shooting lefty averaged a team second best 10.9
points per game, and if she can recover from an early season hand
injury, she should have another outstanding year.
The last of the senior standouts is the versatile Rachael
Dedo (5-9) who could possibly play the two, three, and four
positions. A rugged
defender, rebounder, and streaky scorer, Dedo has been a key
contributor to the last two ‘Topper championships.
Dedo will start at the four spot relying on her speed and
athleticism to make up for a nightly size disadvantage.
In the 99-00 season, she averaged 10.2 points per game and grabbed a team second
best 174 rebounds .
The only other ‘Topper player with game experience is junior
captain Shay Glauser (5-9), who
also played key minutes in the last two championship seasons.
The former Wheeling Park star knocked down 39 three point field
goals last season, and will be called upon this season to give the
‘Toppers a defensive presence along with her long range shooting.
With only four veterans on the team, Ullom will need plenty of
help from an impressive class of newcomers.
A big help (literally) should come from 6-11 Jaana
Kotova, a junior college transfer from Seminole Community College.
The tallest cager in the NCAA II ranks, Kotova spent last season
as a red-shirt and should be comfortable with the system when the
season opens. The Tallinn,
Estonia native possesses a nice touch and should be a dominating
rebounder and shot blocker.
Kotova will start at the five, but with Dedo not being a true
post player, West Liberty will need contributions from several young
inside players. All-West
Virginia performer Ashlea Bland (6-0)
is a natural scorer with excellent athleticism, and according to Ullom,
resembles a young Lyndsay Frank-Cummins, a former ‘Topper star.
Lauren Hills (6-1), Sarah
Kuhn (5-11), and Julie Raterman
(5-10) round out the freshman post players who will all seek to make
their presence felt.
West Liberty has the services of five young guards who all
appear to have bright futures in the ‘Topper program.
Hard-nosed Dana Levendoski
(5-8) from LaCrosse, Wisconsin may see key early minutes at the wing
position. One of the
‘Toppers strongest and fastest players, Levendoski is also a capable
scorer. Slashers Allison
Bell (5-8), Stacey Moore (5-8),
and Erica Vavrek (5-10) join three
point specialist Tara Johnson (5-8) as other freshman vying for time at the two
and three spots. Highly
touted point guard Kelly West (5-4) appears to be the point guard of
the future and will definitely see minutes at both the one and two
positions.
Ullom says, “We are going into this season playing to win
another conference title. I would like to think that our program is to the point where
that is a legitimate annual goal.
My big concern is how quickly our young players can learn the
system and make the adjustment from high school to the college level.
With Katie (Bohus) indefinitely out, we’re only going to be
able to put three players on the court that’s ever seen game
experience in our program. Our
veterans are going to have to carry us until our younger kids are ready
to play.”
The Lady ‘Toppers
open their season Nov. 17 at 6:00 against Carson-Newman in the Longwood
Tournament. Ullom is again
assisted by Missy Tiber (6th
year) and Aaron Huffman (2nd
year).
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