A VERY EARLY LOOK AT MAC WOMEN

The Polish swami has made his very early picks as to which teams should be hot in 2010-11 and who’s going to sit around saying, “Shut-up and deal.”

My picks are based on returning players listed on team rosters immediately after the end of the school year and, for the most part, do not take into consideration players who are transferring out of several programs, nor incoming recruiting classes. Last season's won/lost records are also shown with the teams

The Falcons return six seniors led by the best player in the conference, wing player Lauren Prochaska and closely followed by point guard Tracy Pontius. Also expected to keep the Wood County school atop the standings are forward Maggie Hennegin, center Chelsea Albert, forward Jen Uhl, and center Kelly Zuercher. Throw in highly touted reserves Allison Papenfus and Jessicca Slagle, and the Falcons have both the talent and depth to challenge for yet another MAC championship. Another plus of having so many talented upper classmen is that it allows Coach Curt Miller to develop his younger players without throwing them into the fire before their time.

After years and years of being the conference door mat MAC Coach of the Year Coach Jodi Kest has finally recruited the talent to make the Zips a legitimate threat to Bowling Green's dominance in the MAC East Division. Just as important as talent however is the fact that Kest, entering her fifth year as head coach, has taught her players that they CAN win.

Kest has a strong nucleus of returning talent on the squad to be optimistic for the 2010-11 season. Senior Kara Murphy, a second team All-MAC selection in 2009-10 brings her team-leading 13.9 ppg scoring back for another year and she is quite capable of putting up huge scoring numbers at anytime. Junior Kyle Baumgartner (6-3) is a big post player who can bang inside or shoot from mid-range when the opportunity presents itself. Baumgartner averaged 10 points and six rebounds as a sophomore. The Zips lost two talented starters, Ayla Guzzardo and Jolene Tamboue through graduation but senior Amber Witt (4.5 ppg) returns at the point and 6-0 forward Rachel Tecca (10.4 ppg) is ready to assume a starting role. Tecca was a member of the all-freshmen team last season. Center Denver McLean and guard Jasmine Mushington also saw considerable playing time as reserves last season. In addition to the veterans, Kest brought in a strong recruiting class of four all-Ohio players who signed on during the early signing period last November.

Could the coming season be the one that sees Flashes slip a little bit and yield to neighboring Akron? The dean of MAC coaches Bob Lindsay lost one starter, point guard Rachael Bennett to graduation, as well as sometimes starters centers Lorraine Odhiambo and Yoshica Spears. However, he does have his top two point producers returning.

Tops among his veterans are a pair of seniors guard Jamilah Humes (14.6 ppg) and forward Taisia Jones (14.3 ppg). Other key returnees are 6-3 senior center Ellie Shields (7.3 ppg) and junior guard Jenna Stutzman (6.8 ppg).

The RedHawks lost just one starter (Ashleigh Brown) through graduation and a total of just two players from the roster. Reserve guard Courtney Reed also left the team via the graduation route. The returning veterans however are a talented group by most anyone's standards.

Any talk about the team's returning strengths has to begin with a pair of sophomores, point guard Courtney Osborn and 6-1 forward Kristen Olowinski. Osborn, who is a prolific scorer, was the MAC's Freshman-of –the-Year, and is definitely a major portion of the engine that will drive Miami back to respectability after last season's struggles. During her freshman campaign she was 6^th in over-all scoring (16.5 ppg)), was 4^th in assists, and 4^th in steals. Olowinski, who was also named to the all-freshman team, averaged 7.7 points and 6.1 rebounds during the season.

Also expected to be key elements in the RedHawk resurgence are junior guard Maggie Boyer (10.6 ppg), junior forward Rachael Hencke (9.6 ppg), 6-1 junior forward Lillian Pitts (3.8 ppg), and 6-2 junior forward Erin Wisner (2.7 ppg).

The RedHawks struggled with their youth last season, but the experience gained over the course of the year will serve them well in 2010-11.

Buffalo is another team that is returning most everyone for the upcoming season, giving Head Coach Linda Hill-MacDonald reason to be optimistic that this coming season could be the one that finally produces positive results. The Bulls, who finished at the bottom of the East Division this past season, haven't had a winning record since going 18-11 in 2002-03 under former coach Cheryl Dozier, but Hill-MacDonald is ready to “move-on-up” as she begins her sixth year on the Buffalo bench.

Lighting up Hill-Macdonald’s life is senior Kourtney Brown. Entering her final year of eligibility Brown has established herself as the premier center in the conference. Opposing teams may slow her down, but few teams can stop her. Last season, Brown averaged 17.8 ppg (3^rd in the conference) and 11.5 rebounds (1^st in the conference). She also rejected a league best 63 shots while defending the paint. Brown's total of 1,287 points over her career places her third on Buffalo's all-time scoring list and she stands an excellent chance of surpassing all-time leader Brenna Doty's mark 1,703 points before she turns in her jersey.

Adding to Hill-McDonald's optimism are returning starters senior forward Jessica Fortman (10.2 ppg), sophomore guard Abby Dowd (6.5 ppg), and senior guard Bridgett Kendricks (3.1 ppg), along with two players who were part-time starters during the season: junior guard Brittany Hedderson (11.9 ppg) sophomore guard Crissy Cooper (3.9 ppg).

At the end of the season Coach Semeka Randall was forced to say goodbye to 40 percent of her scoring when guards Jenny Poff and Jennifer Bushby graduated. Now she must look to add much more scoring punch to a team that averaged just 57.4 points per contest – dead last in the conference - while claiming eight victories in 2009-10.

Ashley Fowler, a 5-7 sophomore started 24 games in Coach Randall’s three guard offense last season and is a leading candidate to remain in the lineup. One possible replacement for the departed players is 5-9 junior Da’Keisha Mann who averaged 5.7 points per game while logging 20.5 minutes a contest. Lightning-quick sophomore Danielle Woodmore, a 1,000 point producer in high school, may also get a chance to show her offensive prowess come the winter weather. Also waiting her turn is Tenishia Benson who spent last season on the shelf as a result of injuries. Another possibility is incoming freshman Symone Lyles who will be arriving in Athens with some great press clippings.

Players in the paint include 6-0 senior forward Kamille Buckner (6.7 ppg), 6-1 senior center Thia Ghoston (5.4 ppg), 6-1 junior center Maxine Ohakim (3.3 ppg), and 6-1 sophomore forward Tina Fisher (2.2 ppg) will be back to play inside.

The Bobcats will be looking to improve their play in a number of critical areas but there are so many areas in need of improvement. Except for two recent winning seasons under, then coach, Sylvia Crawley, the Bobcats haven't been on the plus side of the ledger since the 1997-98 campaign and it’s not going happen for them during the next go-around either.

Could the upcoming season be the one that sees the Eagles rule the roost in the West? If returning talent is a barometer for EMU to claim its first out-right MAC West crown since the 2005-06 season, then the answer would be a resounding yes. Fourth-year coach AnnMarie Gilbert grabbed a share of the West Championship in 2007-08, her first year in Ypsilanti, and she is now primed to take her team to the top. And why not, since all of the pieces for success are already in place.

Gilbert has her entire starting lineup returning to do battle, along with her key reserves. The charge is led by the mercurial Tavalyn James. James, a guard, and just a junior to be, was the MAC’s leading scorer as a sophomore, averaging 20.7ppg. When she is good, she is very good; just ask MAC West Champ Toledo. The Detroit native scored 30 points in a road loss to the Rockets on January 13, then ripped off 40 markers on the same team in a home overtime win to close out the regular season on March 2. She can take the ball to the hoop with ease, pull up and hit the short jumper, or pop from behind the 3-point line with consistent accuracy.

Backing up James are veterans, guard Cassie Schrock (12.6 ppg, 5.1 rebounds), guard Lindsey Mahone (5.0 ppg), forward Kristin Thomas (2.6 ppg, 6.7 rebounds), forward Paige Redditt (6.3 ppg, 6 rebounds), forward Chenise Miller (6.2 ppg, 5 rebounds), and guard Sydney Huntley-Rogers (9.5 ppg).

Eastern Michigan should get the favorite tag, and the bulls-eye, when the preseason voting takes place come early November.

Rocket Head Coach Tricia Cullop begins her third year on the job, and after last year’s fine record that included a WNIT appearance, would like the coming season to be the one that sees UT win the conference championship and grab a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Having lost three special seniors to graduation and a pair of sophomores who have chosen to transfer schools, one would think that Toledo is in for a down year, but hold off on the tears for now because a fine nucleus of returning veterans plus a talented transfer aren't planning to give up the ghost just yet.

Any talk of taking the program up another notch or more has to begin with the Holy Trinity of Toledo’s present roster: junior point guard Naama Shafir, senior center/forward Melissa Goodall, and senior guard Jessica Williams. Ranking 2, 3, and 4 on the 2009-10 scoring list of Midnight Blue and Gold players, this triumvirate was responsible for 35 percent of Toledo’s offense.

Shafir, the little engine that could, was third in the nation in assists last year averaging 6.7 helpers per contest (227 for the season), and has a knack for performing much bigger than her 5-7 frame when the game is on the line. Unfortunately the other side of the coin for Toledo’s floor general is a total of 174 turnovers, tops among D-I assist leaders. All-in-all though, her hustle, floor savvy, unselfishness, dribble-drive, and leadership skills makes one tend to forget those miscues.

Goodall has improved remarkably since enrolling at UT in 2007, and another rung up the talent ladder going into her final year could spell ill-will for opponents in the paint come November. Goodall is now one of those special players who could record a double-double (scoring and rebounding) on any given afternoon or evening.

The term “three-point assassin” is something that is heard more and more in basketball circles when speaking of that special player who has the ability to hit a key three-point shot at a critical time in the game, driving a figurative knife into the heart of an opponent. Jessica Williams wears the assassin title for the Rockets. Time and time again she has lined up behind the three-point arc and buried a triple just when Toledo needed the big lift. One need only look to the New Mexico game, the win over nationally-ranked Dayton, the regular-season victory over arch-rival Bowling Green, and the WNIT game against Pitt to see what a timely basket scored from beyond that long distance line can do for the morale and energy of your teammates, while giving the team wearing the other jerseys a bad case of acid reflux.

Key returning reserves are junior guard Courtney Ingersoll and sophomore post players Yolanda Richardson and Lecretia Smith. Ingersoll, who should challenge for a starting position in the fall, has a habit of getting a steal, or grabbing a key rebound just when the Rockets need a pick-me-up. The 6-2 Richardson was the team leader in blocked shots last season (52 rejects) while averaging just 11.4 minutes per contest. Look for her playing time and stats to increase during the coming campaign. Smith, an undersized power forward, plays much taller than her listed height of 5-9 and is a tenacious rebounder as well as a strong defender.

Sophomore Riley McCormick didn't see a great deal of action as a freshmen but she is an athlete and will challenge for more court time.

Haylie Linn, a transfer from the University of Indiana, sat out last season per NCAA rules but the 5-11 guard is primed to make a run for playing time and a possible spot in the starting lineup. The Madison WI native was a first-team all-state selection as a senior in high school before taking her game to Indiana. Her height on the perimeter, where she is a good long-range shooter, and a quick first step to the basket on a drive should prove a challenge for opposing defenses.

An x-factor on the Toledo roster is redshirt freshman point guard Andola Dortch. Two separate ACL injuries, one to each knee in less than a year, have prevented the wispy 5-7 Dortch from taking the court, but if she can reclaim the speed and quickness that made her a star in high school, Toledo will have a pair of point guards second to none in the conference.

It’s been exactly 10 years since Kahli Carter led the Rockets to a MAC championship and a visit to the NCAA Tournament. It’s very possible that the latest group of players can make their own mark in the record book.

3. Central Michigan (12-18, MAC 9-8)

The Chips recently lost all-conference forward Britni Houghton to graduation and three players via the transfer route, but there is still enough talent in Mount Pleasant to warrant a puncher’s chance at a run for the conference title, or perhaps a division crown.

Leading scorer Shonda Long (14.9 ppg) is returning for her senior year at guard and senior forward/center Kaihla Szunko will once again make things tough for opponents in the paint. Szunko, a very intelligent, even-keel post player averaged close to a double-double last season, scoring at a 12.7 clip and grabbing 9.4 boards an outing.

Now if redshirt sophomore Brandie Baker can return to the form that earned her MAC Freshman-of-the-Year honors in 2008-09, Coach Sue Guevara will be elated. Baker, a 6-0 guard/forward was shelved for the entire season following a knee injury suffered in preseason workouts. As a freshman she averaged 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds as a starter in all 31 of CMU’s games.

Also returning are sophomore guard Jalisa Olive (5.4 ppg), junior forward Skylar Miller (4.5 ppg), and senior forward Laura Baker (2.1 ppg).

Long, Szunko, and a fully-mended Brandi Baker are a talented trio to build around. Guevara must now find the other pieces of the puzzle among her returning reserves and some untested newcomers.

4. Ball State (14-17, MAC 7-9)

The Cardinals lost a pair of quality players through graduation (Audrey McDonald and Danielle Gratton) and two more (Jade Barber and Patrice King) who opted out as transfers. So what does third-year Coach Kelly Packard have available to get the program once again headed north after last season’s dip?

For starters there is 6-1 senior forward Emily Maggert who averaged a double-double 17.1 points and 10.6 rebounds in 2009-10. For her efforts Maggert received Second Team All-MAC honors. Maggert and Buffalo’s Kourtney Brown were the only two MAC players who were able to accomplish the double-double feat last year.

Maggert will team up with senior guard/forward Ty’Ronda Benning (9.8 ppg) to give the Cards a pretty good one-two punch.

Amber Crago, a 6-3 junior center will need to improve her game in the paint to relieve some of the defensive pressure that Maggert is sure to get next season. Crago saw action in all 31 games as a sophomore, starting seven contests, averaging 3.9 points and 3.6 rebounds. Also expected to contribute are senior guard Shannon Klei (3.0 ppg), sophomore forward Shanee’ Jackson (2.9 ppg) and junior forward Suzanne Grossnickle (2.0 ppg). Grossnickle, a big body post player, is a former high school McDonald’s All-America nominee.

Chloe Barnes, a sophomore guard who was highly touted coming out of Notre Dame High School in Quincy, IL played in just 11 games as a freshman, but she should now be healthy and ready to make some serious contributions to the cause.

5. Northern Illinois (10-18, MAC 4-12)

At this time both Northern Illinois and Western Michigan are just about a “pick-em” when it comes to the number five and six spots in the West, but the Huskies get the edge because they have someone on the roster that can take control of a game in a heartbeat and produce a win. That player is senior point guard Marke Freeman. Freeman garnered Second Team All-MAC honors after lighting up opponents for 16.8 points per contest, 18.8 points in MAC competition. In addition to her scoring prowess, she also dished out 3.97 assists in games, and her quick hands resulted in 78 steals over the course of the schedule, good enough to rank second among MAC players.

To sweeten the pot for new coach Kathi Bennett the team’s number two and three scorers, Mauvolyene Adams (12.6 ppg) and Ebony Ellis (12.0 ppg) also return to the mix. Adams, a 6-0 forward; and Ellis, a 6-3 center are both seniors and they, along with Freeman will be counted on to provide the team leadership.

Bennett was named head coach on May 18, after former mentor Carol Owens suddenly resigned to accept a coaching position on Muffet McGraw’s staff at Notre Dame. Bennett brings a wealth of coaching experience to both Northern Illinois and the Mid American Conference.

Also returning for the Huskies are a pair of junior guards, Sarah Rogers (6.0 ppg) and Courtney Shelton (4.5 ppg), as well as senior guard/forward Terriel Cannon (2.4 ppg). Two other players who will push to get attention are guard Bianca Brown and forward Shaakira Haywood. Brown’s forte is defense while Haywood was the team’s leading shot blocker while averaging 10.4 minutes a game.

6. Western Michigan (9-21, MAC 4-12)

The good news for Western Michigan and third-year coach Tasha McDowell is that the top five scorers from last season’s team are returning to Kalamazoo for another go-round. Last season the Broncos, along with Northern Illinois, Ohio, and Buffalo, were the red-headed step children of the conference, so there is no way to go but up if things fall into place.

Miame Giden, a 5-11 junior forward who earned Honorable Mention All-Mac honors last year returns along with a 14.4 ppg average. Giden is the Cadillac of the Broncos and McDowell is counting on the Broadview, IL product to produce big numbers again this year.

Senior forward Ebony Cleary averaged 10 markers and change as a junior and also led WMU in rebounds, corralling 6.9 boards an outing. Three additional seniors, guard Taylor Manley (7.6 ppg), forward Brenna Bankston, (6.3 ppg), and guard Kemmy Dominque (6.3 ppg) will add their scoring talents to the mix. Last season the Broncos averaged 57.6 points but gave up 67.2 points, ranking them dead-last in scoring margin. So, additional offense is definitely a priority.

No specific mention of incoming freshmen has been made in any prior team prognoses, but the incoming Bronco freshmen class is going to be an exception. McDowell has signed 6-7 Andrea Kras to a scholarship and the tall center will be on campus this fall. The St. John, IN native is quite slender at this point but lots of time in the weight room should add some bulk. The incoming class also includes a 6-3 center and a 6-1 forward, so WMU should boast a height advantage over other MAC schools in the very near future. Unfortunately the near-future is not the present, so the thought here is that 2010-11 will be another struggle for the ponies.