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January 23, 2012

TILL IT'S OVER: Mahan’s emergence comes at a good time

Craig Pearson The Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — In the preseason of her second year, Indiana State women’s basketball coach Teri Moren spoke with excitement about having more “pieces” to fit together for a winning puzzle.

With four starters returning and well-rounded sophomore Anna Munn expected to step in, the team had good reason to have lofty aspirations, especially if one or two of the young talents like Jessica Valley, Natasha Zurek, Racheal Mahan or Travecia Franklin could emerge as a factor by this point in the season.

All those young players certainly have promise, and after scoring 12 points with five rebounds and three blocks Sunday, Mahan’s bright future is already underway at a time — partly due to Shannon Thomas’ recent struggles — when her teammates need her. ISU will be staring down a 4-5 record in the Missouri Valley Conference if they can’t pull out a win this coming weekend at preseason favorite Missouri State or first-place Wichita State.

Mahan’s toughness was big Sunday, giving the Sycamores a chance to hang on for a win. The freshmen knew losing consecutive home games was no way to contend for a conference title.

“We needed a win. I wanted to win tonight to put us up in the conference. We want to win the [Missouri] Valley Conference. My state of my mind was we need to win tonight,” Mahan said.

Mahan played 25 minutes Sunday — 25 poised minutes as a key element at both ends — and it might have been more than 30 had she not been scared by a pop she heard in her knee in the second half. Mahan started the second half Sunday, and the 6-foot-1 freshman with the strength to battle with some of the most physical players in the league, could be looking at more minutes going forward.

“Could potentially absolutely, if she keeps playing like that,” Moren said.

While ISU could use more quality Mahan minutes, they could also use a more focused Shannon Thomas. A combination of the two working together and playing well Sunday against Drake and standout Rachael Hackbarth might have produced a win.

Moren enjoyed watching her freshman battle Hackbarth, whom she called the best post in the Missouri Valley Conference.

“The silver lining here for me is Racheal had an opportunity to watch Hackbarth and go up against a kid like Hackbarth,” Moren said. “[Hackbarth] plays 32 minutes and those are 32 hard minutes on both ends, and I don’t think there’s a greater example for a freshman. As I’ve said before, I think Racheal has a bright future for us.”

It’s not only the skill of Hackbarth that impressed Moren, it’s the way she approaches the game. She wants Mahan to remember this game, and Thomas could probably pick up a few things from the Drake standout about playing with emotion and enjoying the game.

“That’s who you should want to play like. That’s how hard you should want to play. She has a huge heart, and she plays with that,” Moren said. “You have to have that, you have to have toughness, you have to have heart. She has one speed, and it’s to go as hard as she can for whatever minutes she’s playing.”

Senior Brittany Schoen said a more prominent role for Mahan can only help the Sycamores. Another offensive post presence is crucial to Schoen, Deja Mattox and Anna Munn finding open looks from the outside.

“The most optimistic thing we have going is Racheal. Looking on that from a guard’s spot, that’s big,” Schoen said. “Coming into this Drake game, they’re looking at Shannon Thomas and her stat line. We have Racheal coming in off the bench, that’s huge. As strong as she is, no one can guard her down low.”

Against Drake, Mahan even showed an ability to see the double-team coming and make a pass with conviction. She set up Munn for an open 3-pointer as a result.

Moren also thought Mahan held her own against Hackbarth on the defensive end.

If Thomas can regain her confidence and make some adjustments to retrieve at least some of the form she’s showed earlier in the season, perhaps Mahan can be the piece that helps put it all together at both ends.

A regular-season conference title would be a long shot now with Wichita State off to a 7-0 start, but the Sycamores can still work their way toward a quality seed in the MVC Tournament.

But Drake is 4-3 after playing five games on the road, and ISU is 4-3 after playing five home games. The Sycamores didn’t capitalize on a great opportunity.

“I talked about this being a must win for us today,” Moren said. “Whether it was our confidence had been shaken by that loss Friday because of the way we lost it and watching film, again, [Friday’s loss] had a lot to do with us and little to do with what Creighton did against us. We’re not taking advantage of the opportunity we were given.”

Moren has a goal to create a sustained winning culture.

“Drake and Creighton are two really good basketball teams, and two teams in the league that have tradition of winning and being successful,” Moren said. “We are aspiring to be like that. You could say we’re still a work in progress with three seniors in the lineup, but we are still trying to figure out how to be successful.

“We’re trying to figure that out and we’re going to take some lumps. At some point, we’re going to have some success.”



Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at craig.pearson@tribstar.com. Please follow him on twitter @TribStarCraig.

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