Women’s basketball starts up

Dukes begin practice with revamped front-court, two transfers

By Matthew Stoss/sports editor

There is a bit of convention within the world of higher athletics — oral tradition if you will — that JMU women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks cites as applicable to his Dukes as they open the 2005-’06 season.

“There’s an old adage that every year, the game slows down for you,” Brooks said after practice Monday in the Convocation Center. “As a freshman, the game is just so fast. Then as a sophomore, it slows down a little bit and then as you get into your junior and senior year, the game is slower and slower and you can see them understanding the game a lot of better.”

JMU opened practice Saturday, and for the first time since Brooks took the reins in 2002 after Bud Childers, he has a team that can finally be called veteran.

“It’s really evident out there,” junior shooting guard Lesley Dickinson said. “You can tell because most of the time, three or four people out on the floor  know what’s going on. They’ve been through it. They know the drills. They know what coach wants.”

Last year, Madison finished 18-11 overall, while going 10-8 within the Colonial Athletic Association before losing to the University of Delaware in the second round of CAA tournament with a team that had only two seniors. This year the Dukes have no seniors, but return every starter, including Dickinson and fellow juniors, center Meredith Alexis and point guard Andrea Benvenuto, who have started since they were freshmen.

“We’re so much further ahead than we were at this point last year, and that’s to be expected when you have a veteran group — even though we don’t have any seniors,” Brooks said. “We have players who’ve logged a lot of minutes and they understand what’s expected out of them. That’s really been a blessing for us. It really helps speed up the first few days of practice.”

But, a few injuries have slowed practice down. Alexis, who led the Dukes in rebounds, averaging 9.3 a game in 2004-‘05, is battling tendonitis in her knees and Dickinson, the team’s leading scorer last season (14.7 points per game), had arthroscopic surgery on her left knee Oct. 10 to repair a torn meniscus and is expected back in two to three weeks.

“Every year it swells up, but this year, it didn’t go down,” Dickinson said. “Even if I miss the first couple of games, it’s better than missing the last couple.”

Other problems for the Dukes include a frontcourt that at the end of last season only included Alexis and junior forward Nina Uqdah after forward Krystal Brooks graduated. However, coach Brooks made the frontcourt a priority in the off-season, recruiting three freshmen post players in forwards Kisha Stokes (6-foot) and Angelique Robinson (6-foot-2) and center Nana Fobi (6-foot-3).

JMU also went the transfer route, picking 6-foot-2 junior forward Jennifer Brown from the University of Pittsburgh and Jennifer Harris from Penn State — both of who will have to sit out this year due to NCAA rules in regard to transferring between Division I programs. Both have redshirt years available.

“We needed post players. We really needed post players,” Alexis said. “It’s kind of funny because we have subs now in practice and for the first two years, we didn’t really have that luxury.”

The Dukes open their season Nov. 18, hosting the Atlantic 10’s University of Richmond in a 7 p.m. tip at the Convocation Center. JMU also has an exhibition Nov. 12 when they host M.I. Express at 6 p.m. at home.

“This is our year,” Alexis said. “All summer, I was thinking, I don’t have to be shy anymore I can just go out and do my thing, but it’s kind of scary because we only have two more years left, so we only have a few more opportunities for that CAA title and we’re just going to go out there with that killer mentality. We’re going to beat ODU. We’re going to beat anyone who comes at us like that.”