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