TVCC women’s basketball reloaded and ready for action
Lady Chukars open season Nov. 14 at Chemeketa
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Wednesday, November 12, 2008 8:00 AM PST
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| Ray Rodriguez | Argus Observer
Treasure Valley freshman Shantell Humphreys (front) goes for a shot while Lacey LaPierre defends and teammates Autumn Greene (left) and Nicole Tolman look on during a recent practice in Ontario. The Chukars return seven players and have nine newcomers on the roster as they look to make a move towards the postseason. |
Ontario — Treasure Valley Community College women’s basketball head coach SuEllen Esplin had her work cut out when looking to rebuild her roster after last year.
So far, the recruiting trip has paid off.
With a rebuilt roster of nine freshmen and seven sophomores, the TVCC basketball team is ready to hit the hardwood in its quest for a championship.
A season ago, the Chukars (7-20 overall, 4-10 league) finished in seventh place in the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges East division and were on the outside of the playoff picture.
The coach, entering her third season at TVCC, had to replace six sophomores, five of whom were guards, including point guard Kelly Howard (Fruitland High School), shooting guard Ashlie Macfarlane (Fruitland) and 3-point specialist Kylie Roberts (Ontario).
Howard broke the school record for total career assists with 212, and Roberts tied the single-season 3-point made record.
Roberts scored 301 points last season and, in two years, racked up 675 total points placing her third among all-time Chukar greats Tracy Anderson (712) and Sarah Keller (711).
In 2007, Macfarlane led the team with 13 points a game and wound up in fourth place overall with 611 points.
Along with the top three from last year, the Chukars are without Jaimi Arant (Ontario), Elisa Mooney (Vale) and Ashley Curley (Rimrock).
“The sophomores built the program, and they will always have their say. These girls coming in will stand on their shoulders and take off,” Esplin said. “A program is hard to build. They brought the character and the grit it takes to build this program and did a good job.”
Seven returning sophomores, Hope Williams (Marsh Valley), Ali DeKerchove (Capital), Sara Bates (Weiser), Elizabeth Abrego (Caldwell), Krista Kulm (Jerome) and Courtney Johnson (Middleton) bring with them a wealth of experience necessary to get the team headed in the right direction.
Esplin said her priority was recruiting at the guard position, and she did exactly that.
Esplin tabbed freshmen guards Jeni Clark (Skyview), Autumn Greene (Lewiston), Shantell Humpreys (Bear Lake), Blythe Thompson (Moapa Valley), Alla Dzhidzhiyeshvili (Ontario), Mylinda Cypret (Skyview) and Stephanie O’Connor (Ontario) to take control of the hardwood.
In the guards, Esplin also has the deadly combination of speed and size.
O’Connor, Humphreys and Greene are 5-foot-10, Clark and Cypret are 5-foot-9 and Dzhidzhiyeshvili is 5-foot-7.
“We have seen some good things from our freshmen, and we are excited about what they bring to the table,” Esplin said. “We are pretty excited about the kids we got. They work really hard every day, of course, and, right now, our defense is coming faster than our offense.”
Esplin plans for her players to run up and down the floor on the offensive end and play gritty on the defensive end.
“Our offense will fall into place as the season goes on, and that’s how we kind of want it to work,” Esplin said. “We plan on running the floor and playing in-your-face defense.”
On the blocks, Esplin has plenty of size down low. The Chukars boast Kulm (5-10), Johnson (6-4), Williams (5-11), Bates (5-9) and Nicole Tolman (5-10) down low.
“We have a lot of good talent there. Every group of recruits has speed, passing ability or good shooting skills,” Esplin said.
TVCC participates in an intersquad scrimmage at 6 p.m. Friday, and it kicks off the regular season on the road Nov. 21 at Chemeketa and Nov. 22 at Clackamas.
