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
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MVP of the MVC: Lucas first Sycamore to earn Player of Year honors
Indiana State’s baseball team got the Missouri Valley Conference regular-season hardware last week and it’s hoping to grab more gold this week in its quest to win the Missouri Valley Conference baseball tournament.
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Sycamores try to catch Missouri Valley Conference tourney vibe
A Missouri Valley Conference championship season has bloomed for the Indiana State baseball team in 2012. The Sycamores have been dominant through most of the season.
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FROM THE PRESS BOX: Subtle switch has fostered MVC baseball parity
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ISU claims Missouri Valley Conference baseball title
Entering Thursday’s game against Indiana State, Missouri State starting pitcher Nick Petree had gone 72 1/3 innings without surrendering an earned run, an unofficial NCAA record.
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ISU baseball in familiar territory with MVC title on line
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A time for firsts: SMWC seniors have national title aspirations
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Win over SIU puts Sycamores in first place
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Major Clay takes fourth straight MVC high jump title
For the fourth straight year, Indiana State’s Major Clay will climb to the top spot on the awards podium as the Sycamore captured his fourth high jump championship at the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference outdoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday.
The competition was conducted at Cessna Stadium on the campus of Wichita State University. -
Edgewood takes Western Indiana Conference golf crown
Edgewood and senior Jackson Cowden took top honors in the Western Indiana Conference boys golf championship played Saturday at Idle Creek.
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North grad wins 10,000 at Big Ten Championships
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Top-seeded Rose-Hulman falls in opener of HCAC Tournament
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ISU's Ort getting hot at right time for Sycamores
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Terre Haute native getting national attention as freshman for Kentucky
On a day where Terre Haute native A.J. Reed returned home to continue his college career, he got plenty of time to be on-stage.
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Top seed, home field doesn’t guarantee Rose success
On the surface, serving as host for the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament would appear to benefit Rose-Hulman’s No. 1-seeded team, which finished the regular season 27-12 overall and 18-6 in the conference.
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Metro roundup: ISU’s Lucas honored by Missouri Valley again
For the fifth time in the last nine weeks, Indiana State junior catcher Jeremy Lucas has been named the Missouri Valley Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Week.
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Sycamores top Shockers in 10 innings in MVC series opener
If free baseball is what you want, Indiana State has what you need. For the sixth time in the span of a month, ISU’s series opener went extra innings.
- METRO ROUNDUP: Rose baseball team takes first game of doubleheader
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ISU starting pitchers in rhythm heading into Wichita State series
“Gettting into rhythm” is such an oft-used cliché in sports that it’s hard to hear the term and fight the urge to not let it enter one ear and escape another.
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ISU goes to well too many times
Perhaps the most unnecessary pursuit for a Wabash Valley sports fan during the now-completed weekend was watching the first few innings of nonconference college baseball between Indiana State and visiting Nebraska-Omaha.
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ISU baseball living on the edge
Indiana State’s baseball team got its game against Nebraska-Omaha in Saturday between morning and evening rain showers. But in the wake of another walk-off 3-2 victory against the struggling Mavericks, one might be forgiven if they felt the Sycamores are walking between the raindrops a bit.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Central baseball improves to 10-2
North Central lost a 7-1 game to Vincennes Rivet, and then Nolan Kinnett pitched the Thunderbirds to victory, adding a double and three RBIs against Riverton Parke in a pair of high school baseball games on Saturday.
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METRO ROUNDUP: Jenkins, Goatee win inaugural Rush the Punter 5K
Steve Jenkins and TaPring Goatee were the 5K winners in the inaugural Rush the Punter event on Saturday at Fairbanks Park.
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Providing perspective: ISU’s vets have 2009 as window into 2012
Indiana State’s baseball team has reached dizzying heights, but if the Sycamores have any trouble keeping their feet on the ground, they can turn to three teammates who can remind them how dangerous it can be to get complacent.
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Missouri State wins MVC golf championship as expected
Missouri State was a unanimous pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championship, the pollsters citing their experience with four upperclassmen.
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Uphill Battle: ISU 23 strokes back of MVC leader No. Iowa
Indiana State maintained sixth place after two rounds of the Missouri Valley Conference Golf Championships, but the Sycamores face a tough challenge to move into the top half of the league after today’s final round at the Country Club of Terre Haute.
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Enter Cummings, exit McWhorter
All it took was a stat sheet to show Indiana State men’s basketball coach Greg Lansing the glaring need the Sycamores had as they built their 2013 team.
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TH golf community steps up for ISU
The Terre Haute golf community and the Indiana State women’s golf program can be a thriving partnership, and this week’s Missouri Valley Golf Championships have put that potential on display.
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ISU blue after football scrimmage
One of Indiana State football coach Trent Miles’ stated goals for Saturday’s Blue-White spring football scrimmage was to get through the game unaffected by injuries.
As the 12-minute running clock ticked down — one of the concessions made by the football staff to speed the scrimmage up and get players off the field unscathed — it appeared ISU would make it through its spring game more-or-less unscathed.
But on the last play of the scrimmage, disaster struck. -
Hosting Missouri Valley Conference meet, ISU golf heading in right direction under Towne
It’s been a loooooong time in the making.
When the Indiana State women’s golf program was resurrected in 2005, it had already been on a 28-year hiatus. Since then, the Sycamores have enjoyed modest success, but have not hosted a golf match or invitational.
That changes beginning today — in a big way. -
ISU golfers step up after injury sidelines top player
Indiana State will be missing its best player, junior Reece Feducia, in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Women’s Golf Championships at the Country Club of Terre Haute from today through Tuesday.
Feducia was the team’s medalist in their first five tournaments of the fall season, but is still recovering from complications due to gall bladder surgery. She was all-MVC a year ago, finishing tied for third in last year’s MVC tournament. - More College Headlines
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