We practice in the morning, eat a Thanksgiving brunch at the Hilton, then head toward Bloomington to face the Hoosiers.  Our schedule is a demanding one, but one that will help us be very prepared for MAC play.  Indiana has a tall roster with six players above 6’1″. Three of those players are 6’3″ or above. They lost to Miami last night, so I’m sure they will be fired up to see us. It is a great opportunity for us to learn how to stay focused on the road.

As Christmas approaches, I wanted to throw an opportunity out to all of you. Every year our team sponsors a family who is less fortunate. If you’d like to make a contribution toward this effort, call our office and let Katie DeBenedictis know. There’s nothing better than helping others have a more enjoyable Christmas! Katie’s phone number is 419-530-2363 or you could email her at:   katie.debenedictis@utoledo.edu

We recently signed three new players for next year. Cat Wells is a local product from Notre Dame in Toledo. She’s a quick point guard with great passing, ball handling, and shooting skills. Kendyl Nunn is a taller wing with 3pt shooting ability.  She hails from Morgan Park HS in Chicago. I love the fact that this young lady thrives in pressure situations. Finally Michele Hayes is a combo guard capable of playing the point or wing. She is from Detroit Lathrop HS and has deep three point shooting ability, great quickness to defend opposing guards and is capable of creating her own shot. All three of these players will represent our program with class on and off the court.

I’ve received several questions regarding our upcoming game with Iona on December 1st. The start time is unusual with the tip at 11am on a weekday. For this game we are inviting grade schools and junior high schools to bring their students as an educational field trip day. We have designed some materials based on the curriculum to help inspire students to work harder in the classroom by using basketball to teach lessons. Our players and coaches will be making visits to the schools who participate this day. In addition to being a fun academic day we also hope this opportunity might help some kids in our area who have never been to a game, experience what it is like to see a game in Savage Arena. We already have 2,000 kids signed up. If you have connections to any area schools who may like to participate, please pass along the contact information of Heather Lutz 419-530-2486. We had to schedule the game at 11am to get the buses back in time for the regular routes at the end of the school day.

On the theme of the holiday we are approaching, a big THANK YOU to all of you who have made our jobs so enjoyable! We appreciate all you do to make the University of Toledo such a great place! I hope you and your family have a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

GO ROCKETS!

Tricia Cullop

In our next two games against Auburn and Alabama, we watched different players step up to help us win. Beating those SEC teams at home was exciting to say the least, both teams presented different challenges. Auburn had great long-range shooters and great height inside, while Alabama was an up tempo, full-court pressing team. We found out in the first few minutes of the game just how fast and athletic they were as the ball looked like it belonged in a pinball machine. Fortunately, we settled down and became more confident as the game went on against their press. We also found that going with a smaller lineup in the absence of Lecretia Smith was causing matchup problems for other teams. Courtney Ingersoll and Haylie Linn were seeing time at the power forward position, something I doubt either of them thought was possible when they signed with UT!

Syracuse provided one of the toughest challenges of the tournament as they had size, speed and great shooters. The depth they had in the post position was incredible. We would get one player in foul trouble and another 6’3″ or 6’4″ player would be checking in the game. Much like their men’s team, their athleticism makes their zone tough to score against. You watch film and beating it looks fairly easy, but scoring against it in person is a different story. They covered ground in their zone better than any team I’ve seen and they adjusted quickly to new sets as they had seen almost every look throughout the season. Luckily, our post players came ready to play. Melissa Goodall and Yolanda Richardson had to step up as they were covering our shooters fairly well. Despite facing a height disadvantage, both Yo and Goody did a tremendous job! Up and under moves, turnaround jumpers and a great rebounding effort made Coach Mitmesser and I enjoy the second half!

As we embarked on the “Final Four” of the WNIT, we would face a tough Charlotte team. We would also learn that our game would be the first sellout in school history for women’s basketball and a MAC single game attendance record. It was exciting to see the crowds grow every game as we made this journey. We were very thankful to Dr. Jacobs for providing free tickets to all our UT student body as well! Talk about support! Some of the best news after every game in the huddle was our A.D. Mike O’Brien announcing to our team that our next game would be at Savage! What a thrill! We were able to jump out early versus the 49ers and not look back. I’m going to frame the box score from that game as that is the first time I have ever coached a team that only committed three turnovers for an entire game. It was fun to watch our team execute so well. The hard lesson we had learned in the MAC Tournament about focus was now paying off. Every UT player that checked into the game played their heart out! We now had earned the right to play for a championship! The best news to follow…it would once again be at Savage!

When we handed out the USC scouting report to our players, it was tough for them to decipher which position each player played if you just scanned the heights. They started at 6’1″ and went to 6’5″. They were indeed the tallest group we had played all year. The Lady Trojans were also extremely talented with most of their players leaving HS tabbed as an All-American. Everyone knows their coach, Michael Cooper. Yes, I watched him when I was younger, although I did cheer loudly for my fellow Indiana native Larry Bird in those battles! Coach Cooper brought an NBA approach to the game, isolating mismatches and attacking specific positions with their sets. It wasn’t hard to find those due to our lack of height, but what we lacked in size we made up for in heart and hustle. We recognized and masked our disadvantage by helping more in the half court and establishing an earlier pickup point in our full-court defense to best utilize our speed and depth. Naama Shafir was sensational. Her great knack for knowing when to change speed and change direction was inspiring to watch! Her 40-point performance in the WNIT Championship game on national television was a thing of beauty! In addition to Naama’s outstanding offensive production, I was also extremely proud of our team’s defensive effort and ability to tie with USC in rebounds for the game, considering their size. It was also exciting to see Haylie Linn knock down two threes in a crucial moment of the game to help the momentum shift back in our favor! It was amazing to see Savage Arena packed to the rafters, 7,301 strong, cheering loudly and willing us to win. The Toledo community definitely embraced our team and for that we are incredibly thankful! The WNIT championship run was something our team and staff will never forget! I can’t wait to sit down and watch some of the games on DVD this summer. Because you have so little time to prepare for each and every opponent in a short amount of time our staff was scrambling to make sure our team was prepared for every game. I am fortunate to have such a great staff. They nailed each and every scout!

This was a season to treasure and a season to build upon. Although our goal was to make the NCAA Tournament, the WNIT may have been the best thing that could ever have happened to our program at this time. We had a chance to play several post-season games and play those on our home floor! Our younger players received great experience playing against quality opponents and talented teams, something I know will pay dividends next year. We witnessed the emergence of Yolanda Richardson and Haylie Linn, two players who will play critical roles for us next season. Andola Dortch flourished and matured each and every game as well. Yes, we will miss Melissa Goodall and Jessica Williams, but what they can be very proud of as they graduate is that they raised the bar of expectation during their four years and established a winning culture once again for UT Women’s Basketball. They started their careers with a 14-win campaign and walk out the door with a 29-win season, two West Division titles, a MAC regular-season championship and a WNIT crown! Most importantly, they did it with class! Both were a joy to coach, worked extremely hard and led by example. Jay was usually assigned a tough defensive assignment and was counted on for various duties, but I will never forget her draining threes in closing minutes of big games. She never felt the pressure, but served more of a pressure release for us! I loved her willingness to step up when we needed her most! She finished the MAC season as the top three point percentage shooter in the conference. Melissa just got better every year. She worked tirelessly to improve her range, her strength, her ball handling and her post moves. She became a complete player and one of the best post players in the MAC. She made it tough for opponents to double or sag defensively because she was a threat to knock down a three.  There’s no doubt in my mind they will shine wherever their career paths may lead. They will be amazing ambassadors for our program and the University of Toledo as they embark on the next phase of their lives.

We can’t thank our UT fans enough for your loyal support all season long. It was fun to watch the fan base grow as the tournament progressed. I look forward to seeing those new faces in the stands next season. We have owned the MAC attendance record for 21-straight seasons and broken our own single-game attendance record in consecutive contests with the final record standing at 7,301 in the USC game. The words “thank you” don’t seem big enough, but please know we deeply appreciate your support! As we close the book on the 2010-11 season I am also extremely thankful for the support of our administration. You don’t see that everywhere in women’s basketball. We are very fortunate to have great leaders at UT like Dr. Jacobs, Larry Burns, Mike O’Brien, and Kelly Andrews. They don’t always get the credit they deserve, but none of what we accomplished this season would have been possible without their help!

This team was a joy to coach. They taught me what true teamwork and chemistry can produce. They didn’t get caught up in individual honors, but pulled together to win something many people thought was impossible, a WNIT championship. I am very honored to call myself their coach!

Have a great summer and enjoy!

Coach Cullop

It was exciting to see 4,500 fans show up on January 9th to support not only our team, but a great cause. The past three years we have supported the Susan G. Komen Foundation and our donations have continued to increase. This year we were proud to present their organization with our highest total yet of $14,000. The crowd also inspired us to beat a scrappy, veteran Kent State team. Big thanks to Chrys Peterson and Kevin Mullan for volunteering their time to make the fundraiser a success! As we continued our journey through MAC play, the snow continued to fall and the trip to DeKalb presented some obstacles. We got permission to take Naama Shafir there early to avoid problems with the storm headed our way and our team slowly made the trip the following day. Although we missed the snow storm, we ran into an inspired NIU team on Senior Night who got the best of us. The trip home was a long one, but we stayed focused on the goal that was still within our grasp, a MAC regular-season championship. To capture the title, we had to win our last game versus Central Michigan. We knew we had to be ready, as they had beaten us in many areas when we visited Mount Pleasant. In the first half, we lost Naama Shafir and Courtney Ingersoll to injuries. It would have been easy for our team to fold or flounder, but I was very proud of the mature reaction they had. In an energized, focused effort they showed what a true “team” they were by pulling together behind an inspired Melissa Goodall.  Melissa certainly saved her best for last (at least we thought it was her last game in Savage). Her 28 point and 10-rebound performance was just what the doctor ordered! Everyone who came off the bench that game gave us all they had. We would not be denied!

As we headed to Cleveland, we knew we would have our work cut out for us. With a NCAA Tournament bid on the line, every team brings their best. Our first test would be against a young, talented Akron team. They have a massive playbook and set a variety of different screens, so you have to be alert defensively if you are going to have a chance to beat them. Despite falling behind early, we pulled together for a victory. Yolanda Richardson played some terrific moments in this game! The next challenge would a scrappy, quick Eastern Michigan team who we had escaped a narrow victory against over at home toward the end of the MAC regular season. From the outset of the game, we weren’t the sharp, focused team we had been most of the MAC season. You have to credit EMU’s defense for that, especially their press. Turnovers plagued us throughout the first half and shots weren’t falling against their tenacious zone. As the buzzer sounded at the end of the game, I can honestly tell you that is the worst any loss has ever affected our team and our staff. Watching our seniors deal with the emotion of that loss at dinner was painful to say the least. We knew we had earned a right to play in the WNIT, but losing the right to play for a NCAA Tournament bid was tough. All of us wanted it badly for our two seniors. We would also learn that the knee injury sustained by Lecretia Smith in the EMU final minutes would be a season-ending injury. Lecretia is our energizer bunny, so to lose her was tough! Despite how badly we felt, we had to regroup quickly as the WNIT Tournament was a great opportunity for us.

We started the season with great potential and a lot to learn. We also put our team to the test with an ambitious schedule. Playing in the preseason WNIT was a great opportunity for us to learn what our strengths and weaknesses were and what combinations of players would work well together. Even though we only won one of the three games we played in the tournament, I thought the information we gathered by playing post-season veteran opponents was extremely beneficial to us. We started the season with a win over a well-coached St. Francis team who had gone to the NCAA tournament the year before. In our next game, we faced the talented Purdue Boilermakers on the road.  Despite the loss, I was very proud of our team for playing Purdue to the wire in front of 8,000 fans in a hostile Mackey Arena. Unfortunately, we came home and lost to a tough and talented Missouri State team. That game taught us the importance of defense. We lost key people on their team at costly times. It was also hard to swallow as it was only our fourth loss at home in the past three years.

It is interesting to note we started out the season 1-4 before we caught stride. Our New York trip was very memorable. We won two games in the Iona Classic and watched Lecretia Smith be named MVP and Melissa Goodall be selected to the All-Classic Team. We closed out the trip with a win at St. Peter’s putting forth a terrific defensive effort, holding the Peahens to just eight first-half points. We also squeezed in the play “Chicago” and a tour of New York City, which included a trip to the top of the Empire State Building. We also managed a trip to a kosher restaurant so that Naama could enjoy some fresh food and our team could experience something new. We had a good laugh as Janelle Reed-Lewis asked the waitress where the cheese was on our sandwich! We have all had the benefit through the years of learning that Naama cannot eat meat and cheese in the same meal. It was fun watching our team hail cabs, soak in the sites and experience a few hours of fun as we explored the city. We closed out our non-conference schedule winning four out of our last five to gain some momentum heading into MAC play. Beating Indiana at home was one of the highlights of the non-conference schedule as it showed our team’s perseverance. We fought tooth and nail after spotting the Hoosiers a double-digit lead to win by four. We finished the non-conference knowing we had depth, talent and great potential, but  also knowing that we had to stay focused in order to make our dreams a reality.

Coach Mitmesser’s big 4oth B-day is approaching next week and Jessica William’s b-day is on the 14th! Be sure to wish them both a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The last few weeks we have had some amazing people share their thoughts and wisdom with our team.  Chrys Peterson of WTOL and her husband Tom Runnells who is an assistant coach with the Colorado Rockies, Dr. Clint Longenecker a distinguished professor of Management at UT, and Coach Tim Beckman have all spared some time to help our team stay sharp and focused.  We are extremely grateful for their time!

The generosity of our UT community simply amazes me! Our Rockets for the Cure game raised over $14,000 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation. We are very thankful to Chrys Peterson for volunteering her time to make our event first class!  Sunday, we raised over $21,000 in our FT-A-THON that will benefit our team’s trip to Israel. Below are the scores for our players. Mark your calendar for March 27th. Their will be another event that evening sponsored by our Jewish community that will benefit our trip as well. I’ll post more info in the next blog. I will also include information about the trip if you are interested in joining us.

FT’s made out of 100 = Naama 87, Riley 95, Yolanda 53, Mariah 69, Kaneesha 69, LeCretia 76, Courtney 87, Jessica 90, Anna 97, Melissa 85, Janelle 81, Haylie 77, Kyle 90, Brianna 83, Andola 81, and Sarah 91.

Four out of our last six games left are at home. We look forward to seeing you in Savage! Come out and help us honor Jessica Williams and Melissa Goodall as they close out the senior campaigns and help us keep the MAC attendance streak alive!

The MAC pre-season poll has been released and we have been tabbed as the #1 team in the West for the second straight year. Our players understand that even though this is a sign of respect, we must work our tails off to achieve that goal by the end of the season. There is a lot of talent in the league this year, so we must improve each and every practice. It has been fun to add seven new faces to the mix this year. We must be patient as they learn our system, but I’m pleased with the effort we see. They are improving and learning how to execute and compete.

Tickets are on sale for our November 12th WNIT game. I hope you’ll come out in full force for that game. It is amazing to note that we have won the MAC attendance record for 20 straight years. We are very appreciative of the support you’ve shown our program. Spread the word and let’s pack the house for that game!

We look forward to adding three new players to our program during the signing period next week! Once we get the paperwork back, I’ll give you the rundown on each of them.

See you tomorrow!!

After much focus in the recruiting area over the past two years, our staff has finally gotten ahead. Although we are limited by NCAA rules on information we can legally share, we have completed our 2011 class and are turning our focus this summer to the 2012 and 2013 classes. My assistants also did a great job continuing to grow our summer camps in June. The numbers of teams and players has steadily increased over the past two years.  It was exciting to see so many talented players on our campus long before we hit the recruiting trail in July. Once July rolls around, every college coach across the nation hits the road for 20 intense days of evaluating. The nice thing about the recruiting calendar is that we get a few days off after the first 10 days before we head out again. It is a great time to catch up on paperwork, get regrouped, and check on our current team who is on campus taking classes and working hard with our strength coach, Steve Murray, to improve. We have quite a few new faces on the team this coming year, so it is always fun to see how things are coming along. Although we are not allowed to watch workouts, you can tell just by looking that some of our returners have worked their tails off! It is great knowing they are providing solid leadership for the new players. The only players who are not here for the summer are Anna Sonka and Naama Shafir. Naama is currently playing on her Israeli National team and Anna is spending some quality time with her family and working out at home in Latvia before returning for the year.

 It is hard to believe we are just a month away from school starting back up again! If you haven’t already checked out the WNIT bracket, be sure to visit www.womensnit.com. We’ll face St. Francis in the first round. I played against their coach in college when she was an outstanding player at Penn State and I was a Boilermaker many moons ago. She has done a terrific job with their program leading them to the NCAA tournament last season. This will prove to be a very challenging first round game. Spread the word! It will be a fantastic way to start out the 2010-11 season!

 As we close out the 2009-10 year, I am reminded of so many great memories. I feel very fortunate to coach such a great bunch of student-athletes and be surrounded by such a talented group of assistants. I am also very thankful to our tremendous fans! For the second straight year, we were able to break a single-game attendance record with the 5,800+ who attended the BG home game. You were here all year supporting our program through the 21st year in a row of claiming the MAC attendance record! All of you are a big reason why we only lost one home game this past season! What a great environment we have in Savage Arena. We fought hard to claim the MAC West Division Title despite battling a rash of injuries. Truth be told, our training staff and team doctors should be crowned MVP this season. I haven’t ever witnessed so many injuries in one season, but our players and staff never let it stand in the way of pushing toward our list of goals.

We were proud to see three of our players earn All-MAC honors. Tanika Mays made 1st team, Naama Shafir made 2nd team, and Melissa Goodall made honorable mention for their efforts. Naama also finished the regular season ranked #3 in the nation in assists with 6.7/game while our team finished #20 in assists in the nation with 15.9/game. Highlights during the regular season included winning the New Mexico tournament, beating a ranked Dayton team, and defeating BG for the first time in many years at home. We were pleased to reach the MAC final tournament game, but were frustrated to fall short. I was very proud of the way our players responded with a terrific start to the Pittsburgh 1st round WNIT game. We preached all week that we wanted to not just make post-season, but do something our program hadn’t done in some time…make it past the 1st round. We fought hard at Michigan, but a cold shooting spell in the 2nd half closed the book on a very enjoyable season.

Our three seniors will graduate leaving behind a winning legacy. They are the group that led us back to post-season and brought success back to the program. Two years ago, we talked about hanging new banners. This group can leave here very proud of their hard work and can smile every time they look up in the rafters when they return to Savage Arena in the future. Two new banners will soon be hanging to salute our MAC West Championship and participation in the WNIT. These three will be a great success in the future. Lisa Johnson recently completed her reconstructive knee surgery. She will be pursuing a Nursing career here in Toledo. Tanika Mays is thinking over a few possibilities. She may attempt to play professionally overseas, find a coaching position, or chase a position in the Healthcare Administration field. Allie Clifton is applying to our Graduate school and hopes to assist in our strength and conditioning area this next year. All three will be missed, but I know they will go on to make their mark in their respective careers. They will also represent the University of Toledo with class as they have done during their careers.

Mark your calendars for our post-season banquet on April 25^th at 2pm in Savage Arena. It will be held on the concourse, 2^nd level. Cost is just $10/person with drinks and hors d’oeuvres provided. There will be a highlight film shown on our video scoreboard followed by a short award presentation. We will also give each of our three seniors a chance to address the crowd. It will be a special day to honor our team and three seniors. Hope you can join us! To make your reservation, contact Katie Griggs (419)-283-9622.

Our staff is getting ready to travel to the Final Four this weekend. We have been working hard to put the finishing touches on recruiting class. We hope to add three more players to the roster before we begin the 2010-11 campaign. Thanks to all of you who made this past season a success!

Right after the BG game, we faced a tough, well-coached Kent State team on the road. We learned some tough lessons there, but the biggest lesson we learned is that we cannot depend entirely on Tanika Mays to carry our team. Ironically, Tanika was injured in warm-ups of the Ohio game. I hate it that she has missed some critical games for us since then, but if there is a silver lining, it is that our team has grown immensely in her absence from the court. It was just as tough to see Allie Clifton sidelined again with foot pain.  We will see them both on the court soon, but our bye week certainly came at the perfect time. It gives us a few extra days to rest and heal.

Right after our Kent State game, I challenged our captains to be more demanding of our team. Practices were tougher and more physical. I promised our staff would be less forgiving and I needed our captains to be more vocal and raise their level of expectation. I couldn’t have been more proud of the result. Lisa Johnson has responded with three consecutive double-figure games in a row. Senior leadership is so valuable!

Tanika and Allie gave the pre-game speech prior to our Akron game. I knew their passionate speech would be just what the doctor ordered. Naama Shafir responded with a 27 point performance, but our entire team stepped up to claim the victory. Western Michigan was next on the agenda and our Susan G. Komen fundraiser. This game gives us an amazing opportunity to raise funds for such an important cause. Many thanks go out to Chrys Peterson who donated her time to MC the event and serve as our volunteer auctioneer, Heather Lutz who worked tirelessly putting all the details together, and Assistant Coach Katie Griggs who secured the auction Items. I would also like to thank Dental Corner for being our title sponsor for the second straight year!

The generosity our UT fans showed was simply inspiring! The final numbers are being tallied, but all told, our fans helped raise close to $10,000 in one day! Our players wore pink uniforms which were auctioned off after the event and our famous Blue Crew became the “Pink Crew” as the donned Pink outfits thanks to VP Larry Burns!

Pulling out two victories while being short-handed made others step forward and assume scoring, defensive, and leadership responsibilities. This opportunity also begged our injured players to become better coaches on the sidelines. Even though they couldn’t play, they played important roles in each victory as they barked instructions from the sidelines.

As we face the final four games of the season, we realize what is at stake. We know that our focus must be one game at a time. Every team in our league is capable of having a big night and it is up to us to play solid defense. We are thrilled to know that our goals are right in front of us, but we know what we must do to make them a reality.

Mark your calendar for two key dates coming up!  Our “Senior Day” is February 27^th at Savage Arena and March 2^nd will prove to be a battle as we face Eastern Michigan on the road. Hope you can join us for both!