News
Email
Print
Healthy Beginning
WSSU women have full roster again after staggering through an injury-plagued season
Keoshia Worthy is back from a knee injury and is the lone senior on a team of freshmen and sophomores.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 14, 2008
Coach Dee Stokes has a bigger team heading into her third season at Winston-Salem State, but a smaller office -- at least for now.
Stokes has 16 players on her roster and says that this season will be different. A roofing problem at the Gaines Center forced Stokes into temporary office space in a trailer, but the inconvenience is minor, and she isn't complaining.
"I've got other things to worry about," Stokes said. "Hopefully, my office will be bigger at some point."
Last season, with injuries and attrition too much to overcome, WSSU stumbled to a 3-25 record, one of the worst in school history. Things got so bad in one game that the Rams had to finish with four players, because of foul trouble and injuries.
"I really think we've turned the corner," said Stokes, who is 11-46 in two seasons at WSSU. "It just takes a little longer when you inherit a program that's down.… Those days of having five and six players in uniform for a game are gone, and we finally look like a Division I team for the first time since I've been here."
One of the most crippling injuries was a knee injury to point guard Keoshia Worthy. She was injured in the sixth game and didn't return.
Worthy is back for her senior season, the only upperclassman on a team of freshmen and sophomores.
"There's so much competition in practice, and that's going to make us better," Worthy said. "The freshmen who played last year all were out there because we only had seven players on the team. Now we have everybody fighting for their spot."
Worthy's injury last season left the Rams with an all-freshman roster, and six of the seven who finished the season are back, including guards Rene Rector and Nikki Kee, center Vontisha Woods and forwards Jelesa Byrd and Quintoya Mobley.
Rector, a former star at Mount Tabor, led the Rams in scoring (8.4 ppg) and made a team-high 38 3-pointers. Woods averaged 4.9 points and 4.8 rebounds and blocked 37 shots.
"They've done a great job so far," Stokes said of the returning players. "What a difference a year makes for them, going from freshmen to sophomores."
Worthy still needs a little time to heal from her knee surgery, and transfer MaLisa Bumpus, another potential impact player, won't be eligible until December. Bumpus, a 5-7 guard, started her career at James Madison.
Stokes said that Chloe Morse, a 5-11 forward, has been the most impressive among the newcomers.
"Offensively, she can score, and we stuck her on the inside, and she's done very well," Stokes said. "She's got a 25-inch vertical, which is crazy, but I've liked what she's been doing for us."
Elizabeth Maas, a 6-5 center from West Forsyth, also has shown flashes of good play, Stokes said, but needs to work on her stamina.
"I don't think she's a project," Stokes said. "She had some injuries over the summer and ended up not doing anything, so we're still trying to get her in shape and get her mentally tough."
Stokes said that staying healthy is one of the most important things for her team. It wouldn't hurt if the Rams shoot better, too. Last season, they shot 30 percent from the field.
"We expect to be better," Stokes said. "We don't care about anything else other than competing every night and hopefully winning some games."
Worthy said that the Rams have to stay together if they do hit rough stretches.
"Mentally, we all have to stay focused because it's a long season," Worthy said. "If we struggle through a game or whatever, we all have to stick together, even the coaches."
Email
Print
