2007-08 Women's Basketball Media Guide - Lynn University

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4 Points of Pride Lynn University Women’s Basketball Points of Pride • Lynn University has had at least one player earn All-Sunshine State Conference honors in seven of the last eight years, including having representation in each of the past four seasons. • The Fighting Knights have posted seven plus-.500 seasons while winning 20 or more games three times. • Lynn won a program record nine Sunshine State Conference games in 2006-07, besting the previous mark by two, and recorded its best conference winning percentage (.563) • Christine Richardson, the all-time leading scorer in the program’s history, was the first women’s basketball player to be inducted into the Lynn Athletic Hall of Fame. • The 2006-07 Fighting Knights won the most games (17) since the 1996-97 season and the fourth most in program history. • Lynn University reached the post-season in each of its first three seasons.
Women’s Basketball Preview Coming off its most successful season in a decade, hopes are higher and expectations have been raised for the Lynn University women’s basketball team. But changes are abound with the departure of four seniors and the arrival of a new coaching staff. The reigns of the Fighting Knights have been handed over to a new regime, led by head coach Nikki Sullivan. Her task is to pick up where LU left off and take the Blue and White to greater heights. “My expectations are to win a conference title and go to the national tournament,” said Sullivan, who, having starred at Rollins College, is no stranger to the Sunshine State Conference. “We’ve changed the mentality. Not that it wasn’t good before, but I’m taking things a step further. I need to build off what [former head coach] Pam [DeCosta] did so we can get to 20-plus wins in a season.” In an effort to better prepare itself for the SSC season and a tournament appearance, Lynn will take on an ambitions non-conference schedule. The Knights take part in four tournaments before New Years, host two 2007 NCAA Regional teams in Wingate and Georgia College & State and travel to powerhouse Delta State. “Our conference is tough,” Sullivan adds. “The top-tier teams have reloaded and the teams chasing them have brought in some serious talent, so everyone has gotten a lot stronger. But I believe our chances will be contingent on how we do with our out of conference schedule. If we can get momentum in our favor heading into January, we could be a surprise team in the league.” The success will also depend on how well the seven returning players and six newcomers integrate with each other as well as the new coaching staff. Position battles will unfold as their will be a logjam at nearly every spot. “In all my years coaching I have never seen a team work this hard,” said Sullivan. “We’ve got some good players and more importantly great kids. They’ve really bought into what we’re doing. I know I’m taking over a team that ran the ball last year but we’re going to run it even more and try to score in transition off our solid defense. I’d like to create a better defensive team and I think we’ve done that by bringing in some new players to compliment the ones we already have.” Backcourt LYNN UNIVERSITY FIGHTING KNIGHTS Women’s Basketball MEDIA GUIDE Probably the deepest area on the team, the Knights boast seven guards. Led by Jade Williams, the Knights should be extremely quick on the perimeter. The junior point guard was third in the SSC in assists (3.6), fourth in steals (2.6) and was one of the top free-throw shooters (70.8%). But look for Vanessa Black, an SSC All-Freshman team selection a year ago, to see playing time at the point because of her playmaking ability and dead-on shooting. Crystal Ahmed’s knack for getting into the lane and finding the open player should also help her push for action. The two-guard play should see much improvement as well with the addition of Division I transfer Carly Golden and the enhanced offensive game of Krystal Perry. Golden is a pure shooter with great range and accuracy while Perry, a defensive stopper already, has made strides in the offseason with her shooting touch. Tack on the senior leadership of Courtney Fowler and three-point threat of freshman Cara Dolci and the Knights backcourt is sitting pretty. “We are loaded at the point,” Sullivan said. “The three girls are all different in their styles so it’s up to us, as coaches, to mix and match to get the most out of the back court. Vanessa can flat out shoot and makes people around her better. Jade can shoot off the dribble, penetrate and create chances while Crystal is without a doubt the quickest player on our team, which will bring a new dimension to our defense. Carly will be the scorer this team was missing last season from the two-guard and I’ll be looking for Krystal to continue being a defensive presence but also to score in transition.” Frontcourt An area the Knights have retooled the most is inside the paint. Sullivan brought in four new players to compete with returners Bailey Eiland and Liz Roth. At the head of R-JUNIOR, JADE WILLIAMS the class will be junior transfer Rachel Brockman. The 6foot-3 Indiana native will command attention from opponents with her shooting touch in the key and from beyond the arc. Eve Skardzinska, a 6-foot-2 junior transfer, gives the Knights another bona fide player to command the post. Freshmen Natalie Basore (6-foot-1) and Hana Musilova (5-foot-10) could also find minutes as they adjust to the college game. “I’m really pumped about our post players,” Sullivan said. “The players we brought in are what this program was missing the last few years. Eve is going to surprise people with her quickness to the basket and ability to shoot the three and Rachel can do it all: shoot, pass and run the court. We have nice depth with Bailey, who’s impressed me with her shooting and who I think can be a player who grinds out tough rebounds, and Liz, Hana and Natalie.” Season Outlook 5
Page 2 and 3: 2007-08 Roster BACK ROW (L-R): BAIL
Page 4 and 5: Media Policies Gameday Services Pri
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Page 33 and 34: All-Time Roster A-B Shamonica Adams
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Page 43 and 44: #3 SOPH. GUARD VANESSA BLACK #14 SE

2007-08 Women's Basketball Media Guide - Lynn University

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