Fans who trek to McArthur Court this season will see a practically brand new women’s basketball squad.
Gone is eight-year head coach Jody Runge. Jenny Mowe, Angelina Wolvert, Lindsey Dion and Brianne Meharry have all departed as well.
Now, former Duck standout Bev Smith enters as the team’s new head coach. After almost 20 years away from the Oregon program, she takes over for the much maligned Runge.
But she will have help in her first year at the helm.
Junior Shaquala Williams returns after redshirting last season due to a torn ACL, suffered in a September 2000 pick-up game. The guard earned Pacific-10 Conference Freshman of the Year honors in 1998-99, and has been named as a third-team preseason All-American by the Women’s Basketball News Service for the upcoming season.
Williams is joined this season by six freshmen, including high school standout Catherria Turner. Turner, a guard from Tucson, Ariz., averaged 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 steals a game last season for Ampitheatre High School.
“The six new freshmen have done an unbelievable job of revitalizing our returning players,” Smith said. “They keep them on their feet. They’re very athletic and playing into what we think our strengths will be this year.”
Unlike years past, this year’s Duck squad will not be the biggest, or most dominating team on the floor. Mowe, who was a giant presence inside, has graduated on to the WNBA, leaving a hole in the middle. However, this year’s team will be fast and will play an up-tempo game.
“We’re not going to be the tallest team in the league, but we’re going to have to play very tall and very big,” Smith said. “We’re going to be a small and quick team. That is not going to have to be our problem, but the opposing team’s problem.”
The key to the Ducks’ new explosive offense will be Williams and senior Jamie Craighead. Oregon has six returning guards, including Craighead, who set a school record with 81 three-pointers last season.
“I think, in the past, we had to go with our strengths,” Williams said. “We were big and we were strong, and so we had to utilize our inside players. But now we’re quick and fast and so we’re going to have to utilize that athleticism and so just getting up and down the court, running and gunning, is something we’re going to have to do.”
Senior Edniesha Curry, juniors Alissa Edwards and Kourtney Shreve, and sophomore Katy Polansky round out the returning guard spots, a group that has a chance to be the best in the Pac-10. Curry, who transferred from California State Northridge before last season, will play her first game in an Oregon uniform this season after sitting out last season due to NCAA transfer rules.
In the front court, freshman Andrea Bills comes in to bolster a group that includes sophomore forward Cathrine Kraayeveld and senior forward Alyssa Fredrick. The team’s forwards and centers may not be a focal point this season, but will be important when the Washingtons and Stanfords come calling.
After eight seasons with the often criticized Runge, many believe Smith will be a breath of fresh air. Sure, the team has been chosen to place fifth in the Pac-10 in the coaches poll, but the attitude and emotion of this year’s team has not been at its current level in years.
“I think that coach Runge had a certain style that was very successful for her,” Smith said. “My style won’t be a better style, it won’t be a worse style, but it will be a very different style. It’s going to be a style that’s going to help this team be as successful as it can possibly be.”
After one year away, Williams looks forward to returning to the Ducks and helping them chase after their third Pac-10 crown in the last four years.
“Everything is new, everything is different,” she said. “It’s not better or worse, it’s just different. We’re all going to get the chance to go out there and prove ourselves.”