Nov. 5, 2009

2009-10 IPFW Women's Basketball Media Guide

Five returning starters, two players that received significant minutes off the bench, a key transfer, and a handful of newcomers give high expectations to the 2009-10 women's basketball team, the highest of any other squad since the school joined the ranks of NCAA Division I in 2001-02.

"Absolutely this is the best team we've had since I've been here," said head coach Chris Paul, now in his fourth year at the helm of the Mastodon program. "We are expecting to compete for the conference championship, and expecting to have our best season since joining Division I. The expectations are high, but not unrealistic. All we are trying to do is to get better everyday, and to prove to people that we are getting better every year as a program. At the end of the day, I want us to be one of the top-tier teams in the Summit League."

Highlighting the returnees is 2008-09 Second Team All-Summit League selection Chelsey Jackson, a 5-7 junior guard who averaged 13.3 points per game last season, while the team also returns her two starting backcourt mates Jordan Zuppe (5-7, junior) and Courtney Reed (5-7, senior), who averaged 10.3 and 7.2 points, good for second and fourth on the team, respectively.

Chelsey Jackson returns after earning Second Team All-Summit League honors last year

Junior college transfer Eva Ivanova (6-3, senior) led the post contingent by averaging 8.5 points per game, with Sarah Haluska (5-10, junior) starting 24 games, averaging 4.8 points and a team-best 4.4 rebounds per game. Anne Boese (5-10, sophomore) and Laura Gerhardt (6-3, senior) return after coming off the bench for the majority of the season, averaging 5.9 and 1.7 points per game each.

Stephanie Rosado (6-2, sophomore), a transfer from UTEP, and former Michigan All-State selection leads a strong group of newcomers, which also includes Indiana All-Star Sydney Weinert (6-2, freshman, Fort Wayne South Side), a pair of posts from Ohio, Hannah Jones (6-4, freshman) and Sarah Hammond (6-2, freshman), and also a guard out of the Buckeye State, Kim Kline (5-7, freshman).

Eva Ivanova came on strong at the end of last year, helping the team through their strong run to end the regular season

The new-found depth and experience is something that even Paul wasn't sure he would have last season. A year ago, then-sophomore Zuppe had the team put onto her young shoulders, with unproven skill around her at nearly all of the positions. One year later, the opposite seems to be the case, as there is not one player with a huge bulls-eye on their back.

"Coming into the season last year we had a lot of questions that needed answered," said Paul, now in his fifth season with the Mastodons. "We had Jordan coming back, but she was recovering from off-season surgery, we had an unproven frontcourt starter in Ivanova, and Chelsey didn't get a lot of playing time as a freshman. After a year, Eva has now figured it out, Chelsey was Second Team All-Conference last year, and Jordan is back, healthy, and playing her best basketball that I've ever seen."

Adding experience to the squad, which boasts just three seniors of its 15 players on the roster, is point guard Reed, who has started each of the last 44 games, dating back to the midway point of the 2007-08 season. A heady player, Reed turned the ball over just 33 times in the team's 30 games, while dishing out a team-best 61 assists, for a near 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. With a sprinkling in of Reed, Haluska, Boese, and transfer Rosado in addition to the previously named players, Paul has many options for this coming year.

Jordan Zuppe returns after averaging double figures for the second straight year

"What makes us dangerous is that we're not going to be focused on just one player," said Paul. "With all of our players, we have more weapons than we have ever had before. It's a great thing to know you have this kind of depth, which was something we didn't have at the beginning of last year. We had a lot of question marks last year, and that is one of the reasons why we struggled in the close games, because we didn't know who we were. This year we definitely know who we are."

Last season the Mastodons got off to a slow start, and after an 11-game losing skid the team found themselves with a 2-17 record, before re-grouping and rebounded, ending the year by winning seven of the final ten games, catapulting from 10th in the Summit League to the fifth seed in the matter of five weeks.

"The fact that we have nearly all of our players back from the turnaround really helps," said Paul. "That group went through adversity, they figured out how to win, and hopefully now it carries over. It means a lot to have as many of our kids having gone through that. You can tell in practices now that there is a different vibe, a different attitude and feeling with this group."

Leading the way for the guards on the team are the returning trio of Jackson, Zuppe, and Reed, along with Boese, who started three games, and Haluska, who started 24 games at the forward position, but will move back to her natural position of guard for this season.

Jackson's 13.3 points per game were best on the squad, while her 59 assists were second best and 26 steals tied for third highest. She made 42.5 percent of her shots (147-of-346), best on the team, while making 81-of-107 free throws (.757). Zuppe scored 308 points (10.3 average), while making a team-best 66 three-point baskets, ninth most in a season in school history, and nabbed 29 steals, second highest on the team. Of her three-point attempts, she took 201, fifth most in program history, for a percentage of .328. Reed, in addition to her team-leading assist total, grabbed 38 steals, and made 45-of-131 three-point field goals (.344 percent), playing in a team-best 34.8 minutes per game.

Stephanie Rosado comes to the Mastodons, missing last season because of the NCAA Transfer Residency Requirements

Boese, off of the bench for the majority of the season, made 41-of-110 three-point baskets for a team-high .373 percentage, averaging 5.9 points per game during the year. Haluska led the team in rebounding, pulling down 128 for an average of 4.4, while scoring 4.8 points per game, grabbing 26 steals, and making 28-of-79 three-point field goals.

New to the team will be Kim Kline, who finished her career at Nelsonville-York High School as the school's all-time leading scorer, regardless of gender, en route to being named First Team All-Ohio as a senior. Adding depth to the position will be Morehead State transfer Marceya Mingo, a Fort Wayne South Side product. On the roster for the year, are Kayla Drake and Mandi Johnson, who are being redshirted. Drake was the Ohio Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year last season, after leading the Colonels by averaging 16.0 points per game. Johnson finished her career at Crawfordsville High School as the career leader in points and blocked shots, and was an All-State Honorable Mention selection.

"At the point, we have somebody who has started the last 44 games in Courtney Reed," said Paul, who has a 39-69 record with the Mastodons. "Courtney is a very good shooter, but that's not her biggest strength -- which is her ability to defend and make good decisions -- she controls everything. We are very pleased to have her out front. Backing her up at the point will likely be Jordan Zuppe or newcomer Kim Kline, from Ohio, who brings a lot of energy, speed, and athleticism. She was an unbelievable scorer in high school, she just will need to control her speed to take the point guard spot."

"For us, the two and three positions are interchangeable, and we have Jordan Zuppe coming back who has started nearly every game of her college career. She is healthy and she wants it - she has her swagger back. She has become one of the better defenders on the team, and she is very unselfish, because she wants us to win. Then you add in Chelsey Jackson, who is one of the most explosive guards we have ever had here. She is faster and stronger than she was last year, and her outside shooting has become more consistent. Anne Boese, who played a lot as a freshman last year, is our most consistent three-point threat. When she goes onto the floor, teams have to know where she is at because she has the ability to get hot and knock down three or four in a row. Sarah Haluska played a lot of the four position for us, and we're going to move her to the three this year. We are going to use her strength and athletic ability to defend and get on the glass."

Courtney Reed, in her 30 games during the season, committed just 33 turnovers, and returns to lead the point guard position for the Mastodons

On the two forward positions, the Mastodons have as much depth and height as in any of the previous seasons in Paul's tenure. The two returnees to the position are the senior duo of Eva Ivanova and Laura Gerhardt, both of whom are 6-3. Last season Ivanova proved to be the primary catalyst to the Mastodon turnaround, as she averaged 5.2 points over the first 19 games of the season, before coming on over the final 11 games, averaging 14.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, and just over two blocks per game, helping the team to a 7-4 record over the nearly dozen games. Gerhardt put up 1.7 points and rebounds per game, while blocking eight shots in a reserve role.

New to the position is UTEP transfer Stephanie Rosado, who sat out last season due to the NCAA's Transfer Residency Requirements, but was able to practice with the team all year and learn the offense. Also new are a trio of first-year Mastodons in Sydney Weinert, Sarah Hammond and Hannah Jones. Weinert, a 6-2 player out of Fort Wayne South Side, was an Indiana All-Star, in addition to qualifying to the state championships in the high jump. Hammond, who is also 6-2, was named to a Third Team All-Ohio selection. Jones, a 6-4 post, was named First Team All-Northeast Ohio Conference during her senior year.

"Eva proved last year down the stretch that she has the potential to be one of the best post players in the conference," noted the head coach. "She was on the All-Newcomer team last year, and she's in better shape, and is playing even better basketball. She understands the game better, her shooting is better - she's going to be very good, and teams are going to have to pay attention to her, which is going to make life four our guards a lot easier. And when you add in Stephanie Rosado, who is just as talented, the combination is really good for us. Rosado has the ability to take people off of the dribble, score on the block, and brings a fire and aggression to the position that we haven't had in a long time. We haven't had a four-five combination like Stephanie and Eva. Add in the presence of Laura Gerhardt as a senior, who has worked very hard this past summer. She is our enforcer inside, and just wants to do the things necessary to win. The great thing about Laura is that it doesn't matter if she plays one minute or 25 minutes, as long as we win, she is happy. It takes a special person to be able to do that."

Sarah Haluska returns after leading the team in rebounding in 2008-09

"Our freshman class is very strong, headed by Sydney Weinert. She is super-athletic. She is 6-2, but has an unbelievable wingspan. She has the ability to run, jump, catch, and alter shots. She is going to be a very good player. We are going to have a hard time keeping her off the floor this year. Our depth in the post is nice, because you know she is there, waiting to go in, but also not asking her to come in and play 30 minutes right away, because she can learn from Eva and Steph, but still get in her repetitions at the same time. When you add in Sarah Hammond and Hannah Jones, who each brings size, strength, and the ability to score around the basket, we have a good core of young post players. What the freshman have to understand is that they have to match the intensity, physicality, and work ethic of Eva and Stephanie. It's just nice to know that when I look down the bench, we will have all of the options to go to, which is something we didn't have in the past."

Like in previous years, the IPFW schedule is one of challenging opponents, built to gear the team towards the grueling Summit League season. The team opens at home for the second consecutive year, as Wright State comes into the Gates Center on November 14. The team then takes back-to-back road trips, the first to Butler, and the second to Big Ten opponent Northwestern on November 22, a game that will be nationally telecast on the Big Ten Network. The squad returns home for a day-after-Thanksgiving contest against Eastern Illinois at 7:00 PM, before facing off at Mid-American Conference foe Akron on December 2. Three days later the team hosts their first conference game of the season, as Oakland University, the Summit League runner-up in both the regular season and tournament comes to town for the first game of a women's/men's double header starting at 4:30 PM at the Memorial Coliseum.

Three straight road games at Notre Dame, Toledo, and Fairfield set the stage for a pre-Christmas match-up against the Indiana Tech Warriors on December 23, before the team travels to 2008-09 NCAA Runner-Up Louisville on December 29. One non-conference game dots the conference schedule, when the team plays host to the Cougars of Chicago State University on January 20.

Laura Gerhardt also returns in the post, adding experience and size in the frontcourt

"We open with a solid Wright State program at home, and then we go on the road to Butler, who had a great year last year, and they have a tremendous group coming back. We follow that with a road trip to Northwestern. We follow that up with a home game against Eastern Illinois, who kicked our tails last year. When you add the MAC schools in there, like at Toledo and at Akron, and then at Notre Dame, at Louisville, and at Fairfield, it doesn't get any easier. We're going to have to be ready to play every night. I like our schedule because it gives us the opportunity to be challenged right from the start."

"The clear-cut favorite in our conference is South Dakota State. They won 32 games last year, and return four starters -- they will be the cream of the crop. I like the fact that there is a team in the conference that good, because that just forces us to either step up or get run over. Oakland is going to be very strong again, and North Dakota State returns four starters and they are going to be very strong as well. I expect Oral Roberts to bounce back and have a better year this year than they had last year, and with the traditional IUPUI, Western Illinois, UMKC, and Southern Utah, there are no easy games. I think the conference is strong, but I think we're in better position this year to compete and finish in the top-tier of the conference as opposed to last year."