TERRE HAUTE — St. Mary-of-the-Woods coach Deanna Bradley had high expectations prior to this season, anticipating a welcome turnaround in the school’s struggling women’s basketball fortunes.
Bradley’s optimism was due to her roster of 13 talented athletes, sporting at least three starters returning for their sophomore seasons, along with a strong recruiting class of incoming freshmen.
But as the classic Rolling Stones’ song said, “You can’t always get what you want.”
Instead of a probable winning record at this stage of the season, the Pomeroys are saddled with a lowly 1-17 won-loss ledger prior to Wednesday’s annual matchup vs. Rose-Hulman at 7:30 p.m. inside Hulbert Arena.
What happened? Injury, after injury, after injury. You get the idea.
To wit:
• Lexee Hayes, a former Northview standout, underwent a procedure harvesting cartilage for her injured ankle — a nine-month recovery process, according to Bradley. Out for the season.
• Abby McKee had shoulder surgery and was within a week of being released by the doctor, only to fall and re-injure the shoulder. Out for the season.
• Brooke Brown had foot surgery in the summer and was ready to begin the season, but tore a quad muscle in the second game. Bradley describes her availability as “iffy” at best and has played in just seven games.
• Jacci Martin “a tremendous recruit,” according to Bradley, pulled a hip flexor muscle and has been limited to just four games. Bradley was hoping she would be a big scorer, especially from beyond the 3-point line.
• Jordon Bedella was the second-leading scorer this season, averaging 10.3 points per game. But she suffered a stress fracture and has missed the last six games.
• Jade Messerschmitt was providing about 20 minutes a game, but missed eight consecutive games following the removal of a cyst from her foot. She returned for a brief appearance on Saturday.
Oh by the way, these half-dozen athletes provided the bulk of the size for the Pomeroys’ basketball engine. Hayes is 5-foot-10, McKee 5-11, Brown 6-1, Martin 6-1, Bedella 5-11 and Messerschmitt 6-0.
“It’s tough when you have three, or four, prospective starters out for the season,” Bradley lamented. “That’s our rebounding, defenders and scorers. We’ve had to bring in new players and try to make them impact players. We’ve had our challenges.
“I like to think our [record] is deceptive.
“It’s been a rough go for everybody. But we’re not ripping each other apart. So that’s good. We have the next [seven] games to show improvement. There are no excuses.”
Only six of the 13 players on the SMWC roster have played in all 18 games this season.
The most productive of those six is 5-5 freshman Chelsey Barron, leading the Woods in scoring (about 13 ppg), rebounding, assists and steals.
The other six durable Pomeroys include Rebecca Tracy (5-2 junior) — a transfer from Vincennes University — and the team’s leading 3-point shooter; Amanda Trimble (5-5 senior); Bailey Birt (5-8 freshman); Adrianne Blickenstaff (5-11 freshman); and West Vigo graduate Amanda Payne (5-7 senior).
“It’s been tough on our new kids to have to be playing all the time, with no returning players to look up to in tough situations,” Bradley added. “We won’t have that the rest of the season. We just want to finish strong.”
While Bradley focuses herself and her team’s energy in the here and now, it’s only natural for her to think what if?
“We’d probably be 11-5 if everyone was healthy,” Bradley predicted. “But you’ve got to deal with the cards that are dealt you. There’s an old saying ‘hard work will beat talent.’ We just haven’t worked hard enough.
“But that will not be the issue with Rose,” Bradley said of Wednesday’s annual crosstown rivalry. “[Rose] is physically strong. Their record is very deceptive too. They are definitely better than their record would indicate.”
On the subject of playing “home” games for the past few seasons at the old Clinton gym, Bradley said, “We like it up there … it’s great playing there. But you can’t get a good student crowd when you’re playing 15 miles from campus.”
On the prospect of a on-campus facility, Bradley did say, “It’s headed in the right direction.”
While the 2008-09 season has been a major disappointment for the Woods, the prospect of all these returning underclassmen plus four additional high school recruits will hopefully translate into a more prosperous 2009-10 campaign.
The four high schoolers committed to be Pomeroys next season are Lauren Miller (Speedway), Brittany Shaner (Center Grove), Dannie Cardwell (Noblesville) and Whitney Allen (Covington).
College
Injury bug bites Pomeroys hard
The Woods takes on Rose in annual matchup Wednesday
- College
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Indiana State connects on all 12 of its 3-point shots vs. SIU and sets three NCAA records in process
When you’re a shooter and you’re in a slump, the boilerplate cure is to summon amnesia, forget about your struggles and keep on shooting.
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ISU's Webb wins heptathlon
Indiana State’s Robert Webb captured the heptathlon Saturday at the Grand Valley State Big Meet as he totaled the second most points in ISU history while dominating the event. Webb scored 5,140 points, which is second only to former Sycamore Anthony Bertoli’s 5,189 points in 2008.
Webb, a senior, established three more personal best efforts enroute to the overall victory as he ran 8.45 in the 60 meter hurdles and 2 minutes, 50.73 seconds in the 1,000 meters while also clearing 13-1 1/2 in the pole vault. Webb entered the second day of the event in the lead with 2,893 points after winning three of the four Friday events and setting personal bests in the long jump and shot put. -
Perfect game: ISU shoots NCAA record 12-for-12 from 3-point range in win over SIU
Indiana State set an NCAA record for 3-point percentage and consecutive 3-pointers made Saturday afternoon in Hulman Center, connecting on all 12 attempts during a 78-68 win over Southern Illinois.
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‘Frustrated’ Sycamores regroup to face Southern Illinois
Indiana State’s men’s basketball struggles have hit one Sycamore senior hard.
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Thomas nets double-double as ISU women end losing streak
The halftime speech is one of the most time-worn clichés in sports, but once in a while, it’s meaningful. It certainly was for the Indiana State women’s basketball team on Friday against Bradley.
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Sycamore women looking to snap six-game losing streak
The Indiana State women’s basketball team is in dire need of a victory in Hulman Center this weekend.
Bradley visits Terre Haute tonight looking to sweep the season series from the Sycamores, who are in jeopardy of the program’s first seven-game losing streak since the 1995-96 season.
“I think it should [add to motivation]. There’s no doubt that group in the locker room in there is very disappointed,” Coach Teri Moren said. “As I keep saying, we’re in a rough patch right now, and there’s no group of kids that wants to get right back on track more than they do.” -
Leonard dominates in first half, but IU, Zeller earn the victory
The first half belonged to Illinois’ Meyers Leonard.
The win belonged to Indiana and Cody Zeller.
The 23rd-ranked Hoosiers (19-6, 7-6 Big Ten) took advantage of a glaring free-throw discrepancy to defeat the Illini 84-71 on Thursday. -
Rose women roll; Dickerson becomes all-time assists leader
Rose-Hulman senior Alisa Dickerson became the college’s career leader in assists as the Engineers cruised past Defiance 60-33 in Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball Saturday afternoon in Hulbert Arena.
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MVC’s worst a tantalizing option for ISU
Even though the Indiana State men’s basketball team has played better of late, having won three of its last four games, there’s only one team with a worse record in the Missouri Valley Conference standings than the Sycamores.
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Sycamores can’t stop Stutz, Shockers
All or nothing. It was that kind of game for Wichita State center Garrett Stutz. Unfortunately for Indiana State’s men’s basketball team, the “all” came in the second half.
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McWhorter’s fortunes rise with ISU’s
More so than any other Sycamore, Steve McWhorter might embody the decline and the recent rise of the Indiana State men’s basketball team.
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Johnson dominates again for ISU track
Felisha Johnson continued to dominate women’s weight throw while two Indiana State hurdlers moved into today’s finals after solid performances in the preliminaries Friday at the Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame.
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Indiana State women lose at Illinois State
Playing short-handed again, Indiana State’s women suffered their sixth straight Missouri Valley Conference basketball loss Friday night, falling 78-67 to host Illinois State.
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Indiana, Purdue meet with both looking to regain momentum
Indiana University’s stint in the Top 25 may be coming to an end. Purdue is just looking for a winning streak.
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ISU women looking to end five-game losing streak at Illinois State
Within a few points in the final minutes, Indiana State had chances to win women’s basketball games at Missouri State and Wichita State last weekend.
But the Sycamores lost for the fourth and fifth straight games, also losing freshman Jessica Valley for the season at Wichita State. The promising backcourt player tore the ACL in her right knee and began strengthening exercises this week in order to make plans for surgery. -
ISU Senior Day game to be televised on ESPN
The Missouri Valley Conference announced Thursday that Indiana State’s regular season finale against No. 12-ranked Creighton on Feb. 25 in Hulman Center has been chosen as the MVC’s “wild card” game that will be telecast on either ESPN or ESPN2.
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Hoosiers load up on in-state players
With a 1-11 record in his first season as IU football coach, Kevin Wilson knew there were a lot of holes to fill in terms of personnel.
- Wabash Valley verbal commitments
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It’s on: Sycamores, Bulldogs to play at Hinkle on Feb. 18
How badly did Indiana State want to get Butler as its BracketBusters opponent?
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METRO ROUNDUP: Four from Rose receive weekly honors
Four Rose-Hulman athletes earned Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference weekly honors, the HCAC announced Monday.
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Hoosiers reclaim needed offensive momentum
Indiana hadn’t allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent in three straight games heading into Sunday’s home game against Iowa.
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Sycamores will have to match Aces’ toughness
Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing has an enduring respect for the toughness Evansville coach Marty Simmons coaxes out of his Purple Aces.
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WOMEN'S BASKETBALL ROUNDUP: Rose, The Woods post weekend victories
Rose-Hulman relied on a balanced scoring attack and a strong defensive effort to earn a 55-44 women’s basketball victory Saturday over Mount St. Joseph.
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ISU's Stacia Weatherford sets school record in 60-meter hurdles
Indiana State junior Stacia Weatherford set the school record in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, while sophomore Greggmar Swift dominated the action in the men’s 60 hurdles during competition Saturday at the Indiana Relays.
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Rose takes first in Engineer Track and Field Invitational
Rose-Hulman relied on nine event victories, 13 top-two finishes and three school records for a strong performance at the ninth annual Engineer Track and Field Invitational on Saturday.
The men’s squad captured first place honors in a meet that featured two of the nation's top 20 NCAA Division III squads and 12 institutions from seven states. The day’s competition also included 10 meet records. -
Mattox’s 31 not enough for ISU women
Indiana State pulled within 63-57 with a 6-0 run with 8 minutes, 50 seconds remaining Friday night at JQH Arena, but the Sycamores lost 84-70 to host Missouri State in a Missouri Valley Conference women's basketball game.
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Mattox, Sycamores staying positive on road trip to Missouri State, Wichita State
Indiana State seniors Brittany Schoen and Deja Mattox are within striking distance of passing 1,000 points in their women’s basketball careers, and they would join classmate Shannon Thomas in that club. Schoen needs just 16 points, while Mattox is 89 points away.
But Mattox has been on a roll of late, scoring a team-high 15.1 points through ISU’s 4-3 start to Missouri Valley Conference play. -
IU triumphs
When Indiana’s Will Sheehey left the floor after receiving his second technical foul, the Hoosier fans cheered.
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ISU women nipped at buzzer
Creighton sophomore Carli Tritz — blanketed by Indiana State senior Brittany Schoen — had just two points at halftime Friday in Hulman Center.
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ISU needs to find chip on its shoulder
When one looks back at the totality of Indiana State’s 2010-11 men’s basketball season, there’s a recurrent theme that tied together the high points in a 20-14 campaign. A recurrent theme that might give ISU a lifeline in what has been a disappointing 2012 season.
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