KALAMAZOO, Mich.- Under the direction of first-year head coach
Tasha McDowell, the Western Michigan women's basketball team returns four of five starters and 10 letterwinners, while adding four highly talented newcomers for its 2008-09 campaign.
A former Wisconsin assistant, McDowell took over the Bronco program in April of 2008 and brings 11 years of coaching experience to Western Michigan, including the last three as the defensive coordinator with the Badgers. She has also had coaching stints at UC-Santa Barbara, Bradley, Dayton and at her alma mater, St. Ambrose.
“I'm extremely excited about our team and for what the future holds,” McDowell said. “We have a phenomenal group of young women that want to get better and are ready to prove what they can do. My desire is that we will bond together as a team, learn from our successes as well as our defeats. We will give it everything we have every time we step on the floor. My goal for this season is the same as it will be for seasons to come; that we put ourselves in a position to be MAC Champions and NCAA participants every year.”
Western Michigan finished third in a tight Mid-American Conference West race last season with a record of 9-7, 13-19 overall. The Broncos led the division for much of the season after winning six of its first seven league games. WMU advanced to the quarterfinals of the MAC Tournament, pummeling Akron, 84-54, in the first round before falling to eventual champion Miami, 65-60.
The Broncos set school records in free throws made (597) and attempted (813), and led the MAC in both, sinking more shots from the charity stripe than eight other schools attempted. WMU also picked up its first road win at Bowling Green since 2002-03 and upset Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti for the first time since 2003-04. Six Broncos averaged eight points or more in an offense that ranked fourth in the conference, scoring 70.2 points per game. Historically an offensive-minded program, Western Michigan has turned its attention to defense in 2008-09.
“We will definitely bring an exciting, aggressive and disciplined style of play,” said McDowell. “The foundation of who we are will lie in our defense. We'd like our defense to be our best offense. However, we will run a spread motion offense that allows us to attack the basket and utilize our versatility.”
Leading Western Michigan on both sides of the ball is feisty senior point guard
Tiera DeLaHoussaye, last year's MAC Defensive Player of the Year and First Team All-MAC selection. A preseason All-MAC pick this year, DeLaHoussye led WMU in scoring (12.4), assists (7.8) and steals (3.3), while ranking second in rebounding (6.1). She ranked third in the nation in assists and eighth in steals in 2007-08, and has ranked in the top 15 in the country in both categories the past two seasons. DeLaHoussaye is one of two seniors, joined by
Arianne Wilson, who looks to have a breakout season after transferring to Western Michigan last year.
The junior class consists of
Sara Vest,
Molly Dwyer,
Sarah Dreher,
Jenny Loney and
Michelle DeNooyer. Vest was the team's third leading scorer and rebounder a year ago, averaging 9.6 points and 5.0 rebounds, appearing in a sixth man role. Dwyer was the team's top three-point shooter, hitting 43 three's on her way to averaging 8.3 ppg. Dreher (4.6 ppg), DeNooyer (2.2 ppg) and Loney (1.5 ppg) were all used off the bench.
Two of the three returning sophomores were starters in their first season.
Brenna Banktson averaged 9.2 points and stepped up her production to 10.8 ppg in MAC play.
Ebony Cleary led the Broncos with 6.6 rebounds a contest, and chipped in 8.7 ppg.
Maria Iaquaniello served as a back-up point guard, contributing 2.5 ppg.
In their first season in a Bronco uniform will be redshirt freshman
Jami Cynecki, who sat out last season with a foot injury, freshmen
Jazzmyn Harvey, twin sisters Miame and
Robin Giden, and
Ryann Fletcher.
“I'm really excited about the season and talent that we have,” McDowell commented. “I feel like we've got a lot of players with great offensive capabilities that can produce points for us. There are a lot of options for who we can go to to score points.
“The type of offense and defense we're going to play is so up-tempo that we will use a lot of bodies. We want to take advantage of our versatility and we're going to take advantage of our bench. Everyone will be a scoring option for us, and there won't be so much pressure on any one person to produce 20 points night in and night out.
“My long term goal for this program is that we will continue to graduate our young women and produce contributing members of society. I want Western Michigan to be a household name in the homes and conversations of prospective student-athletes. Our plan is to establish ourselves as one of the best programs in the state and to consistently be among the top 64 teams in the country.”
The Broncos will go head-to-head with some of the best programs in the country in the upcoming season, including NCAA regional finalist North Carolina, NCAA Sweet 16 participant Pitt, WNIT Champions Marquette, a pair of WNIT teams in Drake and Iona, and Missouri Valley Champions and NCAA Tournament participant Illinois State. The schedule consists of 29 games, 11 at home, and two non-conference regular-season tournaments.
“For the most part, the schedule was done before our coaching staff arrived to WMU, and we are on the road a lot,” McDowell said. “But the positive is, in order to win you need to learn how to win on the road. It's going to be a great learning experience competing in those tough environments.
“In the conference you can't overlook anything. You can't overlook anyone and you can't underestimate anyone. At the same time, we just need to do what we do and do it well, and make sure that we're prepared for everyone and attack every game with all that we have.”
