Lions ahead of schedule

BARRY FAULKNER

Having lost five of its top six players and boasting only two

returners who made significant contributions to last year’s NAIA

Final Four appearance, the Vanguard University women’s basketball

team was supposed to have a team of the future in 2003-04.

The present hasn’t been half bad, however, for Coach Russ Davis’

Lions, who entered the week 16-1 with a No. 4 national ranking.

“I don’t know what to think of it yet,” said Davis, who believes

the early success is even more surprising, since injuries have pared

the available roster to eight players.

“If you’d have told me I had only eight players, I wouldn’t think

we’d be 16-1,” Davis said.

Inexperience was another preseason concern for Davis, who starts

four freshmen, as well as junior UC Irvine transfer Lisa Faulkner.

“It’s kind of funny,” Davis said. “Because we’re so young, I’ve

been waiting for them to make youthful mistakes. But our kids are

really mentally tough and we haven’t really had a close game. We’ve

been beating teams by an average of 26 points. Last year’s team did

all the little things. This year’s team bypasses the little things

and does big things.”

Davis said chemistry, as well as the strong individual production

of Faulkner (a point guard leading the nation in assists with 9.8 per

game), and Kelly Schmidt (a 6-foot center second in the NAIA Division

I ranks in scoring at 25.9 per contest), has been a recipe for

success that included a 12-game winning streak coming into Tuesday’s

Golden State Athletic Conference home game against Cal Baptist.

“We have balance [seven different players have scored at least 20

points in a game, Davis said], a dominant post player and a dominant

point guard. [The latter] is kind of like baseball, when you have to

be strong up the middle. Things are a lot easier for me, because I

have Lisa Faulkner out there with the ball in her hands. And whenever

I have trouble sleeping, I just remember that Kelly is a freshman

[with three more years of eligibility].”

*

Davis said his team’s ability to amaze him reached a new high in a

98-47 road trouncing of Heritage Christian Jan. 20.

“With three minutes to go in the first half, we were down, 28-24,”

Davis recalled. “We scored the last eight points of the half and,

with about 15:30 left in the game, we were up by 30. I’ve never seen

a run like it. Their coach was calling timeouts, but, eventually, I

had to call a timeout too, because my kids needed a break. That was

fun to watch.”

*

Having only eight players could complicate practice routines, but

Davis believes the concise roster may be a plus.

“We’ve had to bring in guys to scrimmage in practice and I think

that has helped us,” Davis said.

The male practice players are all students with basketball skills,

most having played in high school, Davis said.

“After we won down at San Diego State [the Nov. 11 season opener],

our kids said they had played tougher competition in practice,” Davis

said.

*

In addition to the injuries that have sidelined Jennifer Wilcox

(herniated disc), Crystal Lenderman (torn Achilles), Jessica Pasquale

(knee surgery) and Michelle Griffo (broken thumb) for the season,

Davis has missed some time due to high blood pressure.

“They’ve got me on medication, but they’re still trying to find

the right fit,” said Davis, who was not in attendance for the Dec. 6

loss at Concordia due to doctor’s orders. “To this point, it’s not

working.”

Davis has experienced symptoms including a lack of energy,

dizziness and severe headaches. He believes his intense personality

has contributed to the problem, but any attempts to ratchet himself

down have been unsuccessful.

“I’m an old dog, so it’s hard to learn new tricks,” he said.

Some believe a short leave of absence, perhaps 10 days away from

his team, would improve his blood pressure, but Davis balks at such

suggestions.

“The game I missed against Concordia, I was at home worrying about

what was going on the whole time,” Davis said. “For me, I think not

being there is worse than being there.”

*

In addition to the NAIA individual statistical prominence of

Faulkner and Schmidt (who is also third nationally with a field-goal

percentage of .633), the Lions are among the nation’s best in several

team categories.

VU is No. 1 in the NAIA Division I in free-throw percentage

(.818), and three-point percentage defense (.234), and is No. 2 in

scoring (81.7 per game) and scoring margin (26.1).

The Lions rank No. 3 in three-pointers made (8.1 per game), and are No. 5 in assists per game (18.5).

*

The Lions will get a chance to avenge their only loss Tuesday ,

when they play host to Concordia, featuring junior point guard Nancy

Hatsushi (Costa Mesa High and Orange Coast College), at 5:30 p.m.