Women's Basketball Preview Part 5: Loyola

Nov. 15, 2004

On the heels of a 2003-04 season in which they had troubleconsistently finding ways to win, this year's Loyola women's basketballteam, behind one of the deepest and most talented backcourts in theHorizon League, hope to put to use the lessons it learned last year andreturn to the upper echelon of the conference.

"Even though we had a tough stretch last year, losing some closegames early in the Horizon League season, we were not nearly asconsistent as I had hoped," said head coach Mary Helen Walker."Hopefully this season we can be a little bit better at doing thelittle things which translate into winning ballgames."

The Ramblers will have to replace the graduated MaggieToczylowski but return four starters and nine letterwinners from lastyear's team, making this one of Walker's most experienced teams duringher tenure in Rogers Park.

BACKCOURT

Undoubtedly the strength of this year's team, Loyola returnsfive experienced backcourt players, highlighted by Second TeamAll-Horizon League players Ciara Henderson and Meskhenet Lands. Thisquintet brings a diverse set of skills to the floor and affords Walkerthe luxury of mixing and matching lineups and throwing different looksat their opponents.

"In our up-tempo system, it is important to have good guards,"said Walker. "We have a couple of point guards who see the floor andpush the ball and a couple of people who can finish, either at thebasket or by spotting up and shooting."

The two constants are Henderson and Lands, who form one of thebest guard tandems in the Horizon League. Both on the brink of reachingthe 1,000-point milestone, the two complement each other nicely on thefloor as Lands prefers driving the ball to the basket while Henderson ismore comfortable out at the three-point line. The top two scorers forthe Ramblers a year ago, the team will need both of them to continuethat production this season.

Lands enjoyed a breakout season last year, leading the team inscoring at 13.1 ppg while displaying an all-around game that made hervery difficult for opponents to matchup with. In addition to herscoring, Lands dished out a team-high 99 assists, snared 4.4 rpg to rankthird on the squad and was often assigned to defend the opposition's topperimeter player.

"Meskhenet does a great job of getting to the hole," saidWalker. "She has an all-around game and can be effective shooting thejumper, something she will probably have to do a little bit more of thisseason. On the defensive end, she is our leader out there and oftendictates the way our defense plays by her ball pressure."

Henderson is the perfect foil for Lands' slashing game and givesthe Ramblers the premier outside shooting threat in the Horizon League.The 5-foot-8 senior knocked down 66 three-pointers last season to leadthe League and became the school's all-time leader in trifectas in theprocess, giving her 179 trifectas for her career.

"Ciara excels because she is an all-around player," said Walker. "She is known as a three-point shooter but she is also our best freethrow shooter and I think the game will open up for her to takeadvantage of that a little bit more this season."

In addition to Lands and Henderson, Marquise Hanser, PaigeHarris and Mandy Mennella all return and the five will battle forminutes along with heralded freshman, Yasmin Abdul-Qadir.

Hanser is a true combo guard who will see more time at thetwo-guard spot this year after playing primarily at the point guardposition last year. She started 14 games for LU last season, includingthe last 12, and made quite an impression with her poise, her shootingprowess and her ability to lead.

"Marquise came into her own as the season went on," said Walker. "She was one of the best freshmen in the league last year and is a verywell-rounded player. She is tough as nails and is well-respected by herteammates. I want her to continue to emerge as one of the leaders ofthis team."

Harris is a terrific long-range shooter and gives the Ramblers alittle bit more size in the backcourt. She saw her first action in aLoyola uniform last season after tranferring from UMass and will becounted on to be a little more consistent with that year under her belt.

"One of the things people do not realize about Paige is what agood rebounder she is for her size," said Walker. "She takes it to thehoop strong and can definitely shoot it from the three-point line. Weare just going to need her to be a little more consistent this season."

Mennella is one of the keys for Loyola this season as she makesher return from a horrific leg injury suffered on a flagrant foul lastyear at Illinois-Chicago. The injury forced her to miss the final eightgames of the season but she is primed and poised to regain the form shehad when she was named to the Horizon League All-Newcomer team after the2002-03 season. She is a true point guard who sees the floor extremelywell and distributes the ball to players in position to score. Inaddition, she shoots the ball extremely well from the three-point lineand can create her own shots in the lane.

"We need Mandy to be our coach on the floor this season," saidWalker. "As our primary ballhandler, we need her to stay positive andfocused in both positive and adverse situations and help the rest of theplayers on the floor keep their mental toughness. She has excellentvision on the floor and can score so we are going to need her to playwell this season."

Rounding out the backcourt is Abdul-Qadir, a talented pointguard prospect from Colorado who has the ability to find playing timeimmediately. Extremely quick, she pushes the ball well and can alsoshoot from distance.

"Yasmin is very strong and quick and runs the ball up the floor,"said Walker. "She has good range on her shot and, as she learns thesystem, will play some quality minutes for us."

FRONTCOURT
Up front, Loyola will be deeper and more talented than lastseason, with a couple of key additions joining a group that relied onjust one post player for the majority of the minutes last year.However, the Ramblers will still be young and raw in the earlygoing asplayers settle into their roles.

"We are gonna be young in the frontcourt this season but I feellike our depth and talent level will be better," said Walker."Replacing Maggie (Toczylowski) will be a challenge because she had alot of experience and was our best interior defender but I think we havea couple of players who are ready to step up."

Getting the first crack to replace Toczylowski at the forwardspot will be sophomore Jenna Real. Real saw consistent minutes lastseason as a backup and made a couple of starts late in the season afterToczylowski suffered a knee injury in early February.

"Jenna gave us solid minutes as a freshman last season," saidWalker. "She is very versatile, which is a bonus in our system, andhard to defend."

Also battling for time at that spot are sophomore DanielleNabolotny and freshman Nicole Garcia. Each brings a little differentlook when they step on the floor.

Nabolotny has the ability to bang on the offensive glass whilealso being able to step out and shoot the jumper from the perimeter.Although she played sparingly as a freshman last season, she has workedhard over the summer and will be in the mix for minutes.

"Danielle has been working on her perimeter skills this summer,"said Walker. "She could help us at the high post this year."

Garcia, on the other hand, gives Loyola another athlete withsome size. She runs the floor extremely well and will be able to createa shot in traffic in the paint.

"Nicole has great guard skills for her size," said Walker. "Sheis very long and quick, two factors which help make her tough on theoffensive glass."

One of the most pleasant surprises last year was the continueddevelopment from junior Danielle Lonie at the center position. Afterplaying behind All-Horizon League performer Sarah Hamilton two years agoas a freshman, Lonie was Loyola's primary post player last year andshowed flashes of her tremendous athleticism and potential. Her mostnotable performance was a 20-rebound effort against Illinois-Chicagothat was just one carom shy of the school-record.

"Danielle was definitely our most improved player last year,"said Walker. "Offensively, she was much improved and I am counting onher to continue to work on her power post game and her free throws."

Similar to the forward spot, Walker has a sophomore withsomewhat limited experience and a freshman competing for minutes.

Sophomore Emily Ponder returns after appearing in 26 of Loyola's28 games last season behind Lonie. She showed the ability to battle onthe defensive boards as well as a nice offensive game, including aconsistent 8-10 foot jumper.

"Emily worked hard on her offensive game over the summer," saidWalker. "Her rebounding ability is an asset and she is a very smartplayer on the floor."

Big 6-foot-3 inch freshman Tanika Massey will also see some timein the pivot. Massey gives Loyola another big body and is a true powerplayer in the post. She will help the Ramblers immediately on thedefensive end, especially on the boards.

"Tanika brings us a great deal of size and I am excited abouther coming in," said Walker. "She is a power player who will be aperfect complement to Danielle (Lonie) and she has an innate ability toget good position down low."