5 in a row!

Happy Holidays to all of you Lady Highlander fans! It's been a great holiday season for our team and we hope to continue our winning streak into 2008. We've won our last 5 games and just won our RU Christmas Classic Tournament championship game last night. Kelli and Vandy were named to the all tournament team and Corrie was named tournament MVP. We won both games in the tournament by 21 points and our defensive pressure and intensity have become our trademark. If you haven't had the chance to watch our team in person, you are missing some exciting basketball. Since I last wrote, we beat East Tennessee State University at home by 6 then went on the road to American University just before Christmas to win by 8. Corrie Fertitta hit a huge 3 pointer to help us take the lead for good late in the game to score her 1000th career point as a Highlander. That win pushed our record to 8-4 and was a terrific way to go into our 3 days off for Christmas. On our trip to D.C., Rook's family opened up their house to our team and staff and prepared a great dinner for us. We want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Harmon for taking time to prepare a meal for us and letting our team take over their house for a few hours. I also want to say thanks to my little brother for catching a flight to D.C. and driving all night with me so we could get home to Georgia on the morning of the 23rd. Every hour at home counts when we get such a short break and he helped me out alot!
We all returned to Radford the day after Christmas and set our sights on a 5 game homestand. As of today, we have won 20 of our last 22 home games and we look forward to 3 more before we have to hit the road again. Friday night, we opened up our Christmas Classic with a 70-49 win over future Big South member Presbyterian College. Last night, our team gave me an awesome birthday present by knocking out UNC-Wilmington early and going on to a 21 point victory to stretch our winning streak to 5 games. Our starters have consistently played well and last night we had a few kids come off of our bench and play very well. Kendra Porter (KP) and Kymesha Alston both had career nights and I was so proud of them. Our team's goal is to continue to get better each and every game and we hope to be playing our best basketball late in the season. Again, our girls are playing some great basketball (especially at home!) and we hope that you all will get out to the Dedmon Center during the next week to check us out! Next game in Tuesday at 7:00 vs. Towson University. See you there!
JRA

52-44 win over Wake Forest!

Our girl's got a great win for our team and a great win for Radford University last night at Wake Forest. We went into the game last night coming off an absolutely great week of practice and once we got into the game, we played the same way we'd been practicing. Coach Porter talked in the locker room about playing tough and competing on each and every possession and I think our girls stepped up and met her challenge of playing physical and not getting "roughed". We led for the entire game and we were extremely proud of how our team answered the runs that Wake made in the 2nd half. They cut our lead to 2 at one point and while they were busy celebrating, Johnette answered with a 3, Taleia got a steal, and Vandy drained her first 3 of the season to push our lead back to 8. Our defense looked amazing last night and I think we sent a message to the ACC that we didn't come down there to back down from a challenge. J Dub led us in scoring with 16 but the number that I was most impressed with was that she only had 1 turnover in the 2nd half. Taleia had her first double-double of her college career and I now owe her a dinner at my house because of her effort on the boards. Kelli D just keeps adding to her total in double-double games and I think she is slowly starting to play like she wants to be the best post player in the conference. Lastly, something that doesn't neccessarily show up on the stat sheet, Vandy played incredible defense of Wake's leading scorer and hit a few really big shots. I was really happy for her to play so well! Our new athletic director, Mr. Lineburg, and former RU coach, Charlene Curtis, were at the game and came into the locker room afterwards to congratulate our team. It was a great feeling to have those two just as excited as we were about getting such a big win. Wake Forest was ranked 28th in the country in the AP poll going into our game and was coming off a win over #11 Texas A&M. I was so proud of our team and I hope this win propels us into 2 more before Christmas.
Last week was finals week and the closer we got to Friday, the better mood our team was in. Even practicing at 8am on Thursday, they were very talkative and laughing and joking. It's amazing how finishing another tough semester and getting the weight of classes off their shoulders can help their moods so drastically. Saturday night, we celebrated the semester being over by having dinner as a team at a Japanese steakhouse. Their were a few girls who'd never been to a restaurant like that and I think all of them had a really good time. The noise level at Arigato most definitely rose when our team came through the door! After the way we played yesterday, maybe we'll eat nice dinners like that more often! Next game is Thursday at home vs East Tennessee State. We'd love to see you in the Dedmon on Thursday!
JRA
pictures from dinner are coming as soon as KP emails them to me!

Did anybody else do this on Thanksgiving?

Did anybody else dance like this at their Thanksgiving dinner? Coach P can dance! (with a little help from Kelli, Serena, and Charron.

Me dominating on Nintendo Wii boxing!

Charron vs. Shavon in Wii tennis with Brian (our sports info guy) calling the play by play...If I remember correctly, Charron won.

Shavon, Julie (Coach P's wife), and Charron checking out the sale ads!

Big win last night!

Things have been going well over the last few days for the Lady Highlanders! Last Friday, we got a 63-51 win over Navy to continue our winning tradition at home. Our players are beginning to become very proud of the fact that we've only lost 2 home games out of our last 18. Kelli and Corrie both had double-doubles and Taleia chipped in 14 points and 4 steals in a very balanced effort from our team. Kelli also had a career high 16 rebounds! I think the goals that Coach P has been giving her are paying off. Coach P fouls them so hard in practice that they are finally getting used to finishing shots through some contact in games. We hit the road AGAIN on Sunday headed down to Boone, NC to play Appalachian State. I felt like we had a really good practice on Sunday night and that usually translates into a good outcome for us. It was freezing in Boone! When it's that cold outside, I want to see snow! Anyway, we won by 20 last night (65-45) and put 4 people in double figures in scoring. Corrie and Johnette had double-doubles and Taleia had 8 steals. We dominated on the boards and I seriously hope that trend continues for the rest of the season. Games like last night always make the bus trip home alot more enjoyable for everyone. Vandy has been wanting to eat at Bojangle's since sometime last season and she finally got her wish after the game. Our players are so funny when it comes to their food demands!...I would've asked for Outback! I promised her that if we won, I'd tell the bus driver to take her to Bojangle's. On a side note, Kelli and Serena ordered the "tailgate special." If you think that sounds like too much food for 2 people, you're probably right!
We're off from practice today and a few of the girls have stopped by the gym to do a little extra shooting, but most of them are hopefully preparing for their exams that will take place next week. We are in the office starting to prepare for our next big game...VCU this Saturday. They beat us by 3 at home last year and they have a very talented team. This is a big game for us! Wish us luck!
JRA

p.s. Denay chest bumped Coach Porter so hard in the locker room after the game that Coach fell down...and rumor is that Rachel has a picture of it. Coach threatened to fire me if that picture ends up on the blog so chances are no one will ever see it!

our style

I just had to pry myself away from my new Nintendo Wii. I've been playing against my roommates for the last 3 hours and I am so competitive. I hate to lose at anything...and so do our players. It's so much more fun when we win. Everybody is happy. The bus ride home is awesome...and film session the next day is much more enjoyable. Coach Porter says all of the time when we're watching film that when we win, it doesn't mean we did everything right and when we lose, it doesn't mean we did everything wrong. Last week, we beat Winston-Salem State at their place on Tuesday and we beat a very good Colonial Conference team in William and Mary at home on Friday. (we've made it our goal not to lose at home this season.) Then, we went back on the road over the weekend and lost to Hampton University. If I can be honest, that loss really sucked. However, I think all of us learned something from that game. From our players all the way up to Coach Porter, we all learned that from this point forward, we will play OUR STYLE no matter who we play. We will press teams from the start, play pressure defense in the half court, and run past teams in transition. If you haven't seen us play yet...get ready. We aren't trying to suprise anybody...this is our style and we're ready to impose it on every team left on our schedule.
JRA
p.s. I'll post pictures from Thanksgiving tomorrow!

pictures from TCU

first game

Last week was a crazy week for us. We've spent the last 3 months preparing for the season to start and the closer it got, the more stuff I felt like I still needed to do. For those of you who know me, I can tend to get a little stressed out over our travel plans. I have this nightmare that we go on a road trip and something is so wrong with the hotel that our team doesn't sleep well and we lose the game...or that our bus doesn't show up to take us to the airport...or that our pregame meal reservation gets lost and we don't have time to eat before the game. Anyway, the WNIT travel plans have been a huge chore and last week when I was trying to check and recheck everything, our new office furniture showed up. Now don't get me wrong, I am so excited about our new stuff. My office today looks absolutely awesome. It just sucked last week to spend 2 days not getting any work done while they moved furniture and got everything set up.
We left Thursday morning at 5am headed to the airport going to TCU. Our flight leaving Roanoke got delayed because for some reason, they had to add oil to the plane...kinda scary! We were supposed to have a 2 1/2 hour layover in Chicago and most of planned to use that time to eat breakfast. Well, when we finally landed in Chicago, it was 9:30 and our flight to Fort Worth was scheduled to take off at 9:45! Our entire travel party of 23 people ran through the airport and just barely with some begging made it onto the plane. The girls were even talking about the people who were cheering for us as we all sprinted past them trying to make it.
Once we got to Texas, the weather was awesome and the trip turned out pretty good...except fot the outcome of the game. We got outrebounded pretty bad and we need to do a better job taking care of the ball, but there were definitely some positives that we can take away from that game. We've had alot of people congratulate us today for only losing by 11 points...and I hate that. Yes, TCU is a great team. They were ranked 43rd in the nation when we played them. People outside of our team think it's great that we didn't get blown out. BUT, our players and coaches know that we could have won that game. We could've done a few more things a little bit better and come out of Texas with a huge win. We don't want to just be good enough to hang with teams like TCU...we want to be good enough to beat teams like TCU. And we're close...we will get there.
JRA

**Thank you so much to the few loyal fans who made the trip all the way to Texas to watch us play...and thanks to my little brother for giving the officials such a hard time and almost getting kicked out of the game! We really appreciate all of your support.

Kymesha Alston #23 - Sophomore post player...and the life of the party!

A few words from Kymesha:

I love it here at my new school. Last semester I was just getting the hang of things but now I finally feel like i'm in "the loop". I feel like practices are going well for the most part. So far my favorite thing about practices are the drills that we do when we get to go up and down the floor in game like situations. There really is nothing that I dislike about practices except maybe the running, but that's nothing out of control. I love the energy that all the coaches bring to our practices everyday because we, the players, tend to feed off of it which in the end leads to a good practice. If I could coach practice for one day I would do less breakdown defensive drills, but incorporate them in more real game situations...because it easier to do it right in a drill than in a game. I would make a rule that every missed layup the team will run a down and back and the person who missed would do 10 pushups. If its a missed layup in a drill then it would be a line a layup, like down and back would be 2 instead of 1.

Because I have late classes and my only early class is online now, a typical day for me would be wake up at 10ish, breakfast, class, one life to live, training room, practice/dinner or dinner/practice, then "me" time. Me time could be me getting some work done or just simply relaxing and/or hanging out. This is just some input on how my semester is going so far.

Thanks to Kymesha for taking the time to send this to me so you guys can get to know her a little better. Since Kymesha transferred to RU last winter, she has to sit out this semester. Her first official game as a Lady Highlander will be on December 16th at Wake Forest University. We are all looking forward to the day when she can finally put on an RU uniform!

JRA

are we there yet?

Hello again RU fans! Not much going on worth writing about in the last few days in our world except that we've been having some great practices. I've been really impressed with our team's ability to bring 100% to the floor just about every day. Now, don't get me wrong. We have had a day or two that I've left the gym wondering what the heck they were doing and where they left their brains that day, but it's seriously only been maybe once or twice since practice began. It's 2 weeks and 2 days until we open up against TCU and the closer it gets, the slower the time is passing. It's almost like a long road trip in the car and I'm that little kid in the back seat asking "are we there yet?" I sat down at my computer earlier today and started on our trip itinerary for that trip and got even more excited than I already was. It just seems like when I start checking over our flight info and hotel stuff and practice times in Texas that the game is getting really close! We passed out all of the travel gear and bags to the team last week so they are ready to hit the road looking good. It feels like an early Christmas present to the girls and my office looks like an Adidas warehouse on days like that! We play a scrimmage game next Saturday at home and hopefully all of the first game jitters and nervous energy will all come out so we are ready to just relax and play on November 9th. Ok, time for me to get back to work. Keep checking back for a few updates from our players. They are supposed to be emailing me some things to post.
JRA

a note from one of our captains

Hello everyone! It has been a while since I have written on the blog. I am really looking forward to the upcoming season. I have kind of stepped into a new role this year as captain. This will be a new experience for me at the college level but I am very excited about the opportunity. This week has been the first week of practice and it has been going pretty well. We have five awesome freshmen who have been catching onto things fast and our upperclassmen have been very intense during practice and I think that is contagious because our freshmen have been doing very well. We were picked to win the whole thing this year so we have been practicing very hard to make sure that happens. This year everyone will know who we are and know they have to bring there “A” game to be able to play with us. At the same time, we know everyone will be coming at as strong and we are working that much harder now. We are going to do great things this year. I feel it!!!
Vandy

Lady Highs picked preseason #1

Last week was a very busy week for me and that is the only reason it has taken me this long to talk about the honor that was given to our team last Tuesday. The Big South coaches and sports information directors vote each Fall to decide the preseason rankings and the preseason all-conference team. You guys will be excited to find out that our team has been picked preseason #1 and Kelli and Corrie were both picked to be a part of the 5 member preseason all-conference team! This is the first time since the 96-97 season that RU has been put at the top of that poll. For any of you who can remember, that pick followed the season when the Lady Highs won the Big South and reached the NCAA tournament for a 3rd straight time. Coach Porter told the team last week before one of our workouts and talked about what an honor it is to have the other coaches in the league think that highly of us and show us that respect. Being picked preseason #1 is something that we are very proud of. It shows the team that everyone else finally realizes what we've known all along...we have an extremely talented team this season filled with veterans and some exciting newcomers and we feel like this is our year to do something special. Coach Porter followed that news with a statement that got our team thinking and ready to work even harder. She reminded the team that last season we got picked preseason #5 and reminded them that we spent all of last season trying to prove that preseason polls don't really mean anything. Yes, it is an honor, but we haven't won anything yet! It's time to go to work.
JRA

preseason is finally over!

Friday morning was a great day for our seniors. It was officially their last day ever of preseason workouts and the last sprint they will ever have to run (in preseason at least). It was 7 oclock in the morning and we were all really sleepy but it was a great moment to watch when the seniors crossed the line and let out a yell. It made me think alot about how far they have come since preseason workouts their freshman year and how far they have brought this team. The coaches all told them throughout the recruiting process 5 years ago how they could come to Radford and help us build a championship team. We made a commitment to them and asked them to commit to our team and help us get where we finally are this season. We start official practice in 5 days and we are so excited about the way our team looks right now and the special season that we can potentially have this year. Kelli, Corrie, and Serena have put so much effort, sweat, and tears into our program and I hope this season has a storybook ending for them. I love them and they deserve it.

JRA

first victory of the season

Yes, it's a small victory and no, it doesn't go on our official record...but yesterday our entire team made their mile times. They did it together and that's what makes it such a big accomplishment. Everybody brought their A game on the same day. They all had individual goal times and everybody stepped up to the challenge. If you guys know Kelli D and know that she's 6'3", you know how impressive it is that she ran a 6:48 mile! Also, Kaylyn Crosier consistently ran between 5:30 and 5:40 mile times and was the fastest person on the team (as a freshman!). Our team is going to be so fast this season and our kids know that they are going to be the most well conditioned team on the court every game. I am so proud of them. One week of preseason workouts to go and next Friday we finally get to step on the court for official practice. We all can't wait!
JRA

Congratulations Coach Edwards!

We got up so darn early because we had a 8:30am game against Mexico. This was for 7th and 8th position and winning the game would be a moral victory for either team. No breakfast was available and the bus driver was 20 minutes late which was quite annoying to me. Not only did I not sleep because of the pain in my knee, I had to be warmed up and ready to compete at 6:30am. This is just crazy for me, being that it takes me a while to warm up my body. I am not young anymore. The locker room was freezing and I was a bit grumpy from not sleeping for four days in a row. I knew I have to compete so I shifted my focus to the game. There is not much to say about the game except that we lost even though we were leading for most of the game. We just went away from the game plan. My teammates played hard and I know they wanted to win the game. I came back to the hotel angry because the loss really affected me. I ate and took a nap they went to see the USA and Cuba championship game. The US was impressive in their win and showed off their young talents and veteran leadership. I cheered for them and in return they cheered for me when I got my award for most points in the tournament. I hugged Ann and congratulated her for the gold and she did the same for me and my award. It was a good to take that final picture with coach Donavan with the trophy and me in my Radford top. It seems like a great end to a lovely career as a player and a new start to an exciting one as a coach. My body is just not the same anymore but it sure went out with a bang. Thanks to Dianna Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tina Thompson, Seimone Agustus, Rebekkah Brunson, and Candice Parker for all the stuff they donated to my no-profit foundation. I am so looking forward to seeing my Radford staff and players for our new journey together.
Coach Edwards

Coach Edwards - Saturday, September 29th

Our loss to Cuba was a hard loss. We only lost by 14 points (76-62) and that shocked EVERYONE. We forced them to keep their starters in longer than they wanted. I had 18 points and eight rebounds for the game. Today, we go up against Chile. They have the home crowd in their pocket. The gym is always packed when the home team plays and they play off the energy of their fans.
I am still struggling with trying to sleep on the bed here in my two star hotel. I was actually awake at 7:30 this morning just to get out of the bed. Anyone that knows me knows that I don't voluntarily get out of bed at 7:30 any morning. My assistant coach suggested I put my mattress on the floor like he did. To add insult to this pain, each US player has a room to themselves with two queen beds in it.
It was nice to see my former teammate, Sue Bird, again. I hope to have more photos in my next blog. I brought my own computer but it is having a hard time connecting to the internet.
Coach Edwards

Jamaica vs. Canada

Coach Edwards played her first game in the Fiba Americas Tournament yesterday and had this to say:
Our first game of the tournament was today at 1pm against Canada. Breakfast was at 8am and we were served a ham sandwhich with runny eggs. This was our only meal before the game so I opted for two slices of plain toast. After breakfast, I stopped by the coach's room and was told that we had four players that appeared to be ineligible due to naturalization dates, so we had to choose one to compete with us. We chose the point guard since she was the only point guard that traveled with us. It was a 20 minute bus ride to the arena in town. Right before the game, we found out that all four players were, in fact, elligible. In the first quarter, Canada was up 20-3, and all three of our points were mine on free throws. This showed our lack of chemistry and the fact that we traveled without three of our main guards this trip. In the end, Canada won despite my 25 points. USA vs Cuba was like a championship game. They are considered the two strongest teams in this competition and it was won by only six points. I got a chance to sit and watch the USA game with Donna Orender, a good friend and the president of the WNBA. I got to see my former teammates, Sue Bird and Izzie Castro (Brazil) and my former coach, Anne Donovan (Seattle Storm). Donna is an amazing woman. She was kind enough to offer to take me and my teammates out to dinner. This is not a common occurrence but it is like Donna to be so kind.
On a side note, I got to carry the Jamaican flag during the opening ceremony. After the ceremony, I hung out with all my friends on the US national team. It was nice to see all of them again. After this first day of competition, I am #1 scorer with 25 points, #6 with 7 rebounds and tied for #1 for blocked shots.
Tomorrow we face USA at 1:30. Wish us luck!
Coach Edwards

Rough Trip for Coach Edwards

Coach Edwards sent me this email on Tuesday about her trip so far playing with the Jamaican National Team. I hope it gets better from here!

We started off around 5:30am at the airport in Kingston (which is the city where we were staying). It took us 25 minutes to get to the airport but, upon arrival, we noticed the rest of our group was running a bit behind. We were then way ahead of schedule so we sat patiently waiting for the other four members of our group to show up. When they arrived we went to the ticket counter to check in as a group. The woman behind the counter told us that our tickets were not paid for. It seems as if Chile, after initially booking the flight from Montego Bay (which is on the north coast and hours away) did not pay for the connecting flight from Kingston. At this point, I was losing it. I had gotten up at 4:45am and was looking forward to the trip. We finally got the ticket issue under control only to run into a four and a half hour layover in Montego Bay. The airport is under construction so the air conditioning was out and we were all sweating from transporting our bags from one side of the airport to the other for a connecting flight. After reaching Atlanta, I found out we had a five hour layover and my cell phone was packed in my luggage which was being sent straight to Chile. I was really not liking the fact that I had to beg a call, especially since all the other players were on their phones. The flight from Atlanta to Santiago, Chile was nine hours and thirty minutes. I had an exit row which made my life so much easier and the ride more pleasant. I slept for most of the flight only waking up to eat and stretch. When we got to Santiago, we had to wait four hours before our next flight and we all went to the assigned gate to sit and wait for our flight. After three hours, the man at the counter came and asked us where we were flying to and we told him. He walked away as if everything was fine so we just continued to sit there. After a while, we saw a line and people were boarding the flight which to us was boarding late only to find out it was not our flight because they changed the gate and we didn't hear the announcement. Our Spanish is not that great and the guy did not even advised us of the change even though he knew we were waiting to get to another city. We had to rush to our gate and the plane was pulling away from the gate. We begged and they brought the plane back and we were allowed to board. After being seated, we noticed the plane was not moving and there was some weird sound coming from it. After 40 minutes, they asked us to leave the plane because of mechanical problems. I think the Jamaican National team may have stopped a disaster. We ended up waiting another four hours for a new plane. It took me over a day to get to my final destination here in Valdivia. We got in and found out that the hotel we were in was not the same one we were sent the information on. We are in a two star hotel and the USA,Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico are in a nice four star. Only us and Cuba are in this crap hole and it is just not acceptable. They fed us two dry boiled potatoes and meat-loaf without sauce for dinner. I am about to lose weight here if they keep this up. I keep dreaming of the food the USA is enjoying at their hotel. It so happens that the US bought out 30 single rooms so the two caribbean teams were kicked to the bad hotel. The gym is freezing and I am so missing my Radford girls right now.
Coach Edwards

awwwww Coach Edwards we miss you too!

Go Jamaica!

I am leaving in a few days to go to Jamaica for training camp to prepare for the Fiba Americas competition in Chile. This is the first time an English Caribbean team has ever competed in the Fiba Americas tournament. Jamaica's Women's Basketball team has made history and I am very proud to be a part of that.
I retired from the WNBA in 2006 after playing for the Seattle Storm for six years. Ann Donavan is the coach of the Seattle Storm and also the present coach of the USA women's basketball team. Sue Bird is my former teammate from the Seattle Storm and also the starting point gaurd for the USA national team. Iziana Castro is also a former teammate of mine and a member of the Seattle Storm and Brazilian national team. I am very excited about seeing my friends who are all competing for their countries. The only problem is that Jamaica is in the same bracket with the USA, Canada, and Cuba. How could they put little Jamaica with all the power houses? Don't forget the bobsled team. We are a small country but we are very passionate about competing. We compete for the pride of our country. "Out of many we are one."

Coach Edwards

*Coach Edwards will leave RU next Tuesday for the next 2 weeks but she has promised to email updates and pictures from her travels and her games. I will post her stats if I can find them online anywhere once the tournament begins. I hear she's pretty good! Keep checking our journal to follow the Coach Edwards and the Jamaican National Basketball Team!

JRA

Good Looking Team!

Not only do we have a very talented group of student-athletes, I have to say that we have the best looking basketball team in the Big South! We had our team pictures on Monday afternoon and they all look like a different group of young ladies when they trade in the baggy shorts and tank tops for dress pants and skirts. It is one of the few times during the year when we get to see them this dressed up and all together in one place. We have a few that LOVE the camera and we also have a few that run from it. Kelli and Vandy tend to be the main ones trying to get in every picture and Serena usually makes some kind of crazy face or won't turn her head for the camera. This is a great group of girls and if we get on the court and play as good as we look, this season is going to be a very special for RU Women's Hoops. They also have the best looking coaching staff in America...the girls are just trying to keep up with us!

Top Left: The only 2007-08 Senior Class you need to know about! Top Right: Charron, Kaylyn, Ciara, Denay, Johnette, Kendra, and Vandy. Bottom Left: Coach Porter, Mike, and E.J. Bottom Right: Davida, Vandy, Kymesha, and Rachel.

a new perspective

Hi everyone,

It has been a long time since I have written on the blog. Instead of me writing from a player's perspective, I am now writing from the perspective of a Graduate Assistant coach. I'm still here. I have one more year to finish my Master's degree. I have taken on a new role this year and I will say that I am enjoying it. Although the coaches have me running all over the place...lol (I'm just kidding) I am excited. Not just about my role, but I'm excited for basketball season. The team looks really good and I cannot wait to get into basketball season. It hasn't hit me hard yet that I will not be playing, but I am glad to be a part of the program. So, when you look over at the bench and you see a fly girl looking like she's doing something... that will be me. No longer in a uniform, but this year I'll be in dress clothes. Oh my goodness. Now I need to go shopping. Anyway, I just wanted to drop in and say hello to everyone and let you know that I am looking forward to seeing you all at the games. GO HIGHLANDERS!!!

Shavon Earp

Team Cookout

Man, do I love good food! Especially when it is cooked on the grill and you get to sit down and enjoy it with your family. That was exactly what we did this past weekend, as our team gathered together at Coach Porter's house for our annual team cookout. At the beginning of every season, Coach Porter likes to have everyone over for some good food and bonding time. Everyone brings something to contribute whether it be plates, drinks, chips, or dessert. It was definitely a good time as we ate and watched a movie and then just hung out and talked.

We are also a couple of weeks into our pre-season workouts. I am a little tired myself today as we had a 6 a.m. track workout and then a 7 a.m. group workout. The girls have been working hard and are looking good as we approach the halfway point of pre-season. Of course, everyone is looking forward to October 12th when we can get on the floor and have our first official practice. Expectations around here are high for our team, as we look to improve on our 20 wins and championship game appearance from a year ago.

Be sure to keep up with us this season as we strive for that championship glory! Until next time...

Coach P

Pictures will be posted soon...as soon as Ninnie figures out how to email them to me!
JRA

preseason workouts have finally started

Yesterday was day one of preseason workouts. This is the time that most people absolutely dread. Even if you have worked hard all summer, there is something about preseason that still makes your entire body sore. When we as coaches talk about it, we say alot of preseason is mental. Every year, we have a few players that individually have to make their mind up that they are actually going to make it one more step and that they won't die before the workout ends. I was proud of our team as a whole yesterday when they ran the timed mile. We had a few freshmen that were pleasant suprises and a few upperclassmen that cut more than a few seconds off their times from last spring. I was really happy with the majority of our team and I can tell that they have been working hard to get better on and off the court this summer. We continued our workouts this morning at 6:00am on the track and I have to say that we have a pretty fast team. We have a few that look like naturals out on the track and our track coach may be trying to steal a few of them next spring! Coach Edwards ran sprints with the post players this morning and I feel like I should mention that she made her times on every sprint. She definitely gives our post players somebody to look up to and try to keep up with.
We talk alot as a team about this being the time that we win conference championships. Teams don't just step on the floor and win a championship during March Madness. All of the preparation and hard work begins now long before we are allowed to start traditional practice in October. Our team is ready to put in the work now and I have no doubt that they will be ready when our chance comes again to play for a championship in Asheville, NC next March.

Tomorrow is our pool workout for this week. Check back for pictures of that...they should be pretty funny!
JRA

Introducing Coach Simone Edwards

My name is Simone Edwards and I am excited to be apart of the Radford Women's Basketball program. I was born in Jamaica and I attended college in the USA. This is my first season with the Highlanders after playing many years of professional basketball in Europe and the WNBA. I won a championship with the Seattle Storm and then retired in 2006 from the WNBA. I am also co-captain of the Jamaica Women's Basketball Team which will be competing in Chile next month in the Fiba Americas Championship. I am looking forward to being a part Radford's Women's Basketball Team and it's great staff. We look forward to your support throughout the season.

Back To School

It's that time of year again. School officially started yesterday here on the campus of Radford University for the 2007-2008 academic year and we are very excited! A few things have changed since I last wrote: Most importantly, we hired a new assistant coach to work with our post players. Her name is Simone Edwards and I will let her write tomorrow to introduce herself. Coach Edwards played professionally overseas and in the WNBA. We are very excited to add her to our staff and I know our post players will learn alot from her. Second, we added a 5th young lady to our 07-08 freshmen class. Taleia Moton is a 5'4" guard from Suitland High School in Fort Washington, MD. We were thrilled that Taleia wanted to join our family and we can't wait to see her on the court in a Radford uniform.
Now, back to my original thought. School started this week and it is great to finally have all of our players back on campus. Sometimes they may not believe it, but we really do miss them when they go home for the summer. Everybody came back healthy for the most part and they all seem to be very excited about what this season holds for Radford Women's Basketball. Tomorrow, we will have our first team meeting of the year, Thursday the players will get their physicals, and next Monday we will get started with preseason workouts. Oops, I said the "p" word. Preseason workouts are not anybody's favorite part of the year...not even mine! I know our girls think sometimes that I like this stuff but it's not really fun for any of us. We all can't wait until October when we can really practice or November when we start playing. Anyway, Monday is Day One of preseason and I really really really hope all of our girls make their mile times. Hopefully that will be a perfect way to start what we all think could be a very special season.

Go Lady Highs!

JRA

WNIT Invitation

Good Morning Lady Highlander Fans,

Well, I say that like it's still morning. Can you tell that it's a Monday? 11 AM is still considered morning for me on the weekends! Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that we had some great news announced last week. Our team was invited to participate in the 2007 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament. You've most likely heard it called the WNIT. It is an honor for the Lady Highs to be asked to play in such a prestigous tournament and we are very excited to take on this challenge. Only 16 teams are asked to play in this tournament each year and for them to consider RU for the tournament field will let you know just how much respect our players are earning for Radford throughout the country. Our first game will be against Texas Christian University (TCU) on their home court in Fort Worth, Texas. TCU is a very strong team and has been invited to play in the NCAA tournament for the past 7 straight years. You can read the official press release at: http://www.ruhighlanders.com/news/news_detail.php?news_id=1600.

On another note, the newest members of the RU Women's Hoops family will arrive on campus next week for Summer Session 2. Kendra, Kaylyn, Ciara, and Denay make up the 2007-08 freshman class and we are very excited to finally get them on campus. I hope they come down to our office after they get here so I can get them to write something to post about their first day of school! It's time for me to help Coach P with envelopes and labels now. I will write again soon!

JRA

Summer Update from RU

Greetings from Radford,
Hello. Just wanted to check in and give you guys an update on what is going on around Radford and around our office this week. We are spending this week preparing for what will be a crazy 5 or 6 weeks ahead of us. Coach Pulliam is finalizing all of our travel plans for recruiting in July and he and I have been checking and rechecking our flight itineraries and printing out directions for all of the many cities we will stop in throughout the month. Most of you know that July is THE month for recruiting. I can't even begin to estimate the number of games and players that we as a staff will watch over the entire month. It is an exciting time if you love the game of basketball because we get to watch so much talent in so many different parts of the country. We just hope that all of this effort will result in signing some great recruiting classes over the next few seasons.
We are also getting ready for camp this week. Camp begins on Sunday, June 24th and runs through Thursday, June 28th. We are very excited to get camp started to see the young kids learn about the game that we love and to see the very talented high school players showcase their skills. We always say that if we can ever get a recruit to check out our campus and meet our players and staff that they will fall in love with Radford. I hope camp gives a few of them that opportunity to experience this great place that we call home and hopefully they will decide to make it their college home in the future.
Ok, I'm off to lunch now. Maybe Coach P wants to go to McDonald's today!
JRA

It's been a while

I don't have an elaborate excuse for why I have not posted a journal entry since right before the conference tournament. Honestly, I am a sore loser and I haven't felt like writing anything about the championship game so I have just been avoiding the blog altogether. Alot has happened since we headed down to Asheville, NC to play in the Big South Tournament so I'll just try to hit the high points to catch you up. We beat Charleston Southern in the first round of the tournament and moved on to yet another matchup with Liberty in the second round. The game was tied up at 55 and we had the ball with 18 seconds to go. Kelli's shot left her hands with about 0.2 seconds left on the clock and banked in to send us to the conference championship game. That was an incredible game to be a part of. We were one win away from the big dance. The next day we played UNC-A on their home floor for the championship and left the court asking why UNCA shot 30 free throws and we only shot 8...but I promise not to make excuses. Losing in the championship was very disappointing for all of us but I think that loss may propel our team to do great things next season. Our team was so close and they won't get that close again without winning it all. After the season ended, Coach P and I went to the Final Four, I spent alot of time on the couch watching March Madness, and we all have made trips home to see our families. The president of our university invited our team and staff to a board meeting to introduce us and brag about the success we had this season and later this spring, we had our team awards banquet. I don't want to write a book here so maybe I will try to write more in the next few days. The picture is from the conference tournament banquet. Check out our highlight tape by clicking in the upper right corner. That took ALOT of work...I hope you like it.

Until Next Time,

JRA

Senior Day vs Liberty

I love it when we win! Saturday could possibly be my favorite win of all time. Our 77-54 win over Liberty gave us an 18-10 overall record, a 10-4 conference record, and the #2 seed in this week's conference tournament. Saturday was Senior Day for Shavon Earp, Sarah Stephens, Meagan Hilligas, and Tameisha Carter. These ladies were playing their last game in the Dedmon Center and their last game in front of the home crowd. They all had family and friends in town to support them and they played sooooo well. That group started the game on fire and helped us push our lead to 30 points by halftime. We were all so proud of them and so happy that we could send them out with a big time win over Liberty.
Now, while that win was a great way to end our regular season, beating Liberty doesn't matter at all when we get down to Asheville for the tournament. Nothing we've done so far this year can help us get a first round tournament win. It is all up to our girls to get it done on Thursday at 6 oclock. Our record now is 0-0 and we've got to win 3 games in 3 days to win a conference championship. Charleston Southern is up first...then when we win, we'll play the winner of the Liberty / Birmingham Southern game on Friday. We leave tonight to go down to Asheville, we practice in the morning, and we have our conference tournament banquet tomorrow night where they will announce the all conference teams, all rookie team, and defensive player of the year. The girls will all get dressed up and will probably make fun of all the other teams for the entire dinner. I hope we don't get in trouble! For now, I have to go to the staff meeting. I hate staff meetings!
JRA

When we lose, I don't like to write anything on here. I just can't think of anything positive to say, so I don't say anything at all. Wednesday night, we lost to UNC-Asheville on the road and I just haven't had the heart to write about the game. We played so hard and just happened to catch Asheville on one of their best nights. They shot unbelievably well from the floor and the 3 point line and their key players made some very clutch plays. Sometimes when you lose, it's not because you didn't play well, it's because the other team was just better than you on that given night.
We've moved on from that game and have spent the last two days preparing for our Senior Day game vs Liberty tomorrow. Sarah Stephens, Shavon Earp, Tameisha Carter, and Meagan Hilligas will play their last game in the Dedmon Center. Our team's goal is to send these ladies out on a good note. This game will decide what seed we get going into the conference tournament. When we win, we will get the #2 seed. It's not up to any other team to win or lose to help us out. We win and we decide our own fate. We win and we send our seniors out with 18 regular season wins and a 10-4 conference record. We just find a way to win to quiet all of the doubters who picked us 5th.

I'm back

I'm back. Ok, so I'm very sorry that it's been almost 2 weeks since I last wrote anything. I haven't done laundry in that same two weeks either so you can imagine how busy and crazy things have been around here with games and recruiting as the season heads into the final week of the regular season. Since I last updated you guys on the season, we got a huge win over High Point that avenged a loss to them earlier in the season. The girls stepped on the floor that night and looked like they had something to prove. That was a fun game to watch and the outcome was a very fun one with us winning by 16. Last weekend, the beach came to us. We beat Charleston Southern on Saturday by 30 something but came up 6 points short to Coastal on Monday night. That loss dropped us out of the first place tie and took our conference record to 8-3 and our overall record to 16-9. When we talked as a team before practice on Wednesday, the thoughts of the girls were all centered on not letting that happen again. That loss may have been good for us (if any loss can be good)...it refocused our team and made us realize that we can be beaten if we don't play a complete game. Coastal wanted that game more than us on Monday night and they came onto our floor and got the job done. I think that game got our attention...and we will be ready to leave it all on the floor when we head down to Birmingham Southern this weekend. Yeah, that's right...we're going to Alabama in the morning...the best place in the world (just in case some of you didn't know). I look forward to seeing all of my family and friends and coming back with conference win number 9!
JRA
Coach and E.J. discussing the game plan...I absolutely love this picture of them!

Second time around the Big South

What we did in the first half of conference play got us a 5-2 record but it means absolutely nothing to every team we will face in the second half. Teams that we beat will play us tougher the second time around and as for High Point and Liberty, we have some unsettled business with them. This was very true for us as we went in to Rock Hill, SC on Saturday to play Winthrop. After we beat them so badly at home, we had to expect that they would make some adjustments and that they would be a much tougher team at home. They did exactly that. We had to battle for 40 minutes on Saturday and we left SC with a 3 point win. Kelli D had a major part in the win scoring a career high 31 points. Again, if I had a vote for Big South Player of the week, she'd get it this week! Our post game has been pretty much unstoppable lately and our guards are hitting just enough shots to make the defense have a tough decision to make on how to defend our team. If we can just find a way to get back to defending the way we did for the large part of this season, we are going to be a tough team to beat in our 6 remaining regular season games. Tuesday night is a huge game. High Point comes to the Dedmon Center and we owe them one. A win will put us in a tie for first place in the conference. A win will also extend our home win streak to 10 in a row. This game is a big one. Tuesday night at 7 in the Dedmon Center...don't miss out!

JRA

Corrie and Kelli dominate UNCA

If you didn't have the chance to watch the Lady Highlanders take on UNC Asheville last night, you missed a great game. The matchup between RU and UNCA is always a hard fought battle at home and on the road. Asheville is known to be a very hard working team who never gives up and our challenge to the team in practice as well as Coach Porter's thoughts before the game were "Don't get outworked." Coach talked in the locker room about goals for things that we could do to show that we would not get outworked like taking charges, getting on the floor, and getting tips on defense. When the first half ended, we had already met all of those goals. We worked hard on both ends of the floor and came out with a 72-67 victory to put us at 5-2 in the Big South and in 3rd place one game behind Liberty and High Point. Our two starting post players played excellent games last night and have become a nightmare matchup for all of our opponents. Kelli ended the game with 18 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 blocks. Corrie had 17 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals. She gets my vote for player of the week in the conference (if I actually got a vote!). J Dub had 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists which is definitely worth mentioning. These ladies had a great game and made some big plays down the stretch for us. The plan is to pack all of that scoring and rebounding in our travel bags and head down to Rock Hill, SC tomorrow afternoon to grab another road win against Winthrop on Saturday afternoon. Wish us luck!

Alumni Weekend

Our 1st annual Alumni Weekend and Alumni Game was a success! The Lady Highlanders also experienced some success on Saturday with another Big South win over Birmingham Southern. We are now 12-8 overall and 4-2 in the Big South with UNC-Asheville coming in to the Dedmon Center on Wednesday night. The UNC-A game marks the end of the first half of conference play and will be a big game in the conference race because the Bulldogs are also 4-2. The winner of Wednesday night's matchup will take sole possession of 3rd place in the conference with 7 games remaining before the conference tournament. Every game is very important right now!
This weekend, we had the opportunity to welcome several Lady Highlander alumni back to Radford. We held our first alumni game on Friday night after practice and had several former players come back to show off their skills and I must say, a few of them looked like they could've played with us on Saturday! Our current players participated in the game acting as coaches, water girls, ball girls, stat keepers, and scoreboard operators. Shavon and Corrie's red team won the game and we all had a great time watching and laughing. I hope next year's alumni game can grow and a few more of our recent alumni will have the chance to come back to play. Pictures will be posted soon! Thanks to all of our alumni who attended and for their continued support of Lady Highlander Basketball.

Question and Answer with Serena White

1. What are your top 3 favorite things to do on the bus on road trips? I think my top favorite thing to do on road trips is to serenade everyone on the bus. I must say I think everyone enjoys my singing, coach even said that I should go on american idol. I also like eating for free on road trips and having short practices before games.
2. Which Big South Conference team do you most want to beat this season? Why? I'd have to say Liberty because for some reason, every time we play them we cant put two halves together. It's frustrating that we keep losing to them but I think it's more frustrating that we let ourselves down by not playing to our full potential.
3. Who is your favorite teammate to share a room with on the road? Why? I would have to say Kelli, as long as she doesnt eat salsa from chili's :) Kelli and I get along pretty well and we have to same sense of humor so I feel like I'm laughing the entire road trip when she is my roommate.
4. What is your game day routine when we play at home? I go to shootaround then pregame, and I try to get in a nap after that. I like to get to the gym 2 to 2 1/2 hours before the game to get treatment and get some extra shooting in. I listen to my ipod while I'm shooting just to get my self to relax and get ready for the game.
5. What should opposing teams prepare the most for when we are the next team on their schedule? Teams should prepare for an all around team....we have people that can penetrate, shoot, post up, etc. We have a very well rounded team when it comes to offense and often times I think that's hard for other teams to stop. Defensively, they should prepare for pressure defense for 40 minutes, as well as us overplaying the passing lanes. They should probably work on blocking out because we crash the boards hard (most nights). Really the only thing that need to be prepared for is to lose.
6. What is one goal that you individually or our team has not yet accomplished this season? Individually, I haven't accomplished my goal of being consistent. Team goal wise, we haven't won our conference championship yet and I think everyone is thinking that this is our year.

They have to come back to Radford

I've only got a few quick things to say today. I've been meaning to write something since Saturday night, but for those of you who know me, you know I have needed some time to collect my thoughts and cool down since we lost. I do not in any way want to make excuses for the way we played on Saturday night at Liberty. We didn't play our game. We have been winning games with our defense and rebounding and both of those areas fell apart in the Vines Center. Before Saturday, we were 10-1 when we outrebounded our opponents and we had played 10 straight games where we held our opponents under 60 points. Both of those streaks ended at Liberty along with our 7 game winning streak.
But that's enough about the past. Liberty still has to come back to Radford...and we feel sure the outcome will differ next time. If that game did anything, it taught us a few lessons and we plan to learn from the mistakes we made and strive to be a better basketball team tonight. We have another tough road test tonight at High Point University in North Carolina. Right now, High Point is 3-1 in the Big South like we are and they are a team full of very talented veteran guards. We have our work cut out for us tonight but the girls are focused and ready. We plan to get back on the bus tonight sitting at 4-1 and tied for first in the league knowing that 6 out of our last 9 games are played right here at home in the Dedmon Center. I hope my next journal entry comes first thing tomorrow morning...to talk about a big win!
JRA

Shavon's thoughts on the season so far:

I’m really excited to have the opportunity to inform you all on how well we are doing so far in conference play. We have just come off of a great win against Winthrop and we are getting prepared for Liberty this Saturday and High Point next Wednesday. As you all may know, we are the only undefeated team left in the conference and we want to keep it this way, so we are continuing to work extremely hard in practice with drills, weights, and film sessions. There is no time to let down.

A lot of people are anticipating the match up between us and Liberty this Saturday to see how good we really are, but I am here to say that one game is not going to determine our worth as a team. We are a good team, with great coaches, and a lot of success ahead of us. Babe Ruth once said, “The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” We are a team with many weapons, but what makes us so special is the fact that we play well together and put aside our individual goals to accomplish the greater goal: BIG SOUTH CHAMPIONS.

This year everyone has made it a priority to do their part and bring whatever they are supposed to bring every day and every game. We would not be as successful as we are if everyone didn’t know their role and bring it to the table for each game. That’s our team and that’s what is going to take us to the next level. Everyone does their part.
We are a team of stars.

Shavon Earp #3

p.s. the picture is Shavon and E.J. showing off their rudolph noses at the Christmas party

Winning Streak: 7

We have a spot in the top right hand corner of the dry erase board in the locker room where we write what our current winning streak is...wait, WE don't write it...only SHAVON is allowed to write it. If you want to talk about creatures of habit, our team is the perfect example. Sarah tried to change the number on the board while Shavon was being interveiwed on the radio after the game Saturday and I think she almost got taken down by one of her teammates! Everybody sits in the same chair, stands in the same place in the circle, and even exits the locker room in a specific order every game. Hey, if it continues to work for us, we'll keep doing it!

Another big win for the Lady Highlanders! The picture says it all...a 65-38 win on Saturday pushed our winning streak to 7 games and makes our overall record 11-6. More importantly, we are the only undefeated team remaining in the Big South Conference at 3-0. Our girls are playing with so much confidence right now and having alot of fun in the process. We've got 5 days now until our next big game. We travel to Lynchburg on Saturday to play Liberty University at 6:00pm in the Vines Center. It's been several years since a Radford team has beaten Liberty at home or on the road. We will continue to work hard this week to prepare to end that drought and keep our current winning streak alive. We would love to have your support on Saturday in Lynchburg.

A few pictures from the game Saturday at home vs. Winthrop:












And most people don't get to see this...it happens around an hour before game time. Kelli and Sarah doing the "Jump on it" dance:

6 in a row

Don't challenge our girls. Period. They won't back down.

That seems to be what makes our team go. Anytime they have been challenged mentally or physically lately, our team has stepped up. Monday night at Coastal was no different. Before Monday night, we had gone 4 seasons without a win at Coastal Carolina. We have beaten them at home, but could never find a way to get it done on the "beach trip." As soon as the game was over on Saturday at Charleston, our upperclassmen were reminding the entire locker room of that fact. The trip isn't over until we find a way to beat Coastal on Monday night. Coastal gave us all they had for 40 minutes and took the game to overtime, but our kids stepped up huge in overtime and left the beach with a sweep of Charleston and Coastal for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. The win puts us at 10-6 overall and 2-0 in the Big South. We have also won 6 in a row. More importantly, we are 2-0 on the road in conference play. If you've never experienced conference play on a college basketball team, you may not understand how huge that is. This weekend made a huge statement to our conference about how we plan to play this year. Can you tell how excited I am right now? Anyway, I shouldn't ramble on about just a few wins. We have another very important game this Saturday at home against Winthrop. We split with Winthrop during the regular season last year and then they beat us in the tournament. You better believe that our girls remember that this is the team who ended our season last year...and they love a challenge!
A few pictures from the bus ride home after 2 wins on the Beach Trip:

great week

It's been a great week for the Lady Highlanders! We began the week at home against Winston Salem State on Tuesday night with a 72-48 win. That game was followed by another home win vs. Longwood on Thursday with a score of 61-47. Those two games were the last 2 tune ups before we hit the road for Big South Conference play. After those two wins, we had won 4 in a row and were feeling very good about the way our team was playing. We talk all the time about the importance of conference games and about using our nonconference schedule to gain experience and get us ready for the ones that really count. Yes it is nice to be 8-6 going into conference play, but we started on Saturday with a 0-0 record in the games that matter in the long run.
Yesterday, we got a big win at Charleston Southern University. We went into the locker room at halftime down by 7 but the girls came out and played like we know they are capable of playing in the 2nd half and ended up winning by 24 points. They picked it up a notch on both ends of the floor and showed the people in Charleston what Radford Basketball is all about. Our defense in the 2nd half won us that game. So, everybody was in a great mood on the short 2 hour trip over to Myrtle Beach last night. The girls like it when I'm in a good mood because they say I don't let them eat when we lose...I don't think it's that bad...but that's just my opinion.
Today has been a day to relax in the hotel and hopefully replenish the energy supply so we can grab another big win tomorrow night at Coastal Carolina. Tomorrow night will be our 4th game in 7 days and it's a very important one. This would be a great way to start our conference season with 2 wins on the road. Wish us luck as we try to finish this week off with our 6th straight win and don't forget that you can listen live and watch us live on www.ruhighlanders.com!
JRA

Happy New Year!

Maybe my New Year's resolution should be to try to keep up with the blog on a more regular basis. Sometimes I really just forget to write something. This New Year's Eve was a good one for Radford Women's Basketball. We beat Hampton University yesterday 62-54 to end 2006 with a 5-6 record. The record is not exactly what we had hoped for, but I guess we have to take it. We played 7 of our first 10 games on the road and we were very glad to finally get back to playing in the Dedmon Center last night. Sorry I have to cut this one short, but we are about to go watch film and have practice. Our next game is on Thursday at home versus Lees-McRae. 3 more non-conference games left before we kick off Big South Conference play on the 13th!
JRA