There are many themes teams point to as a new season approaches: Returning starters who bring talent and experience, an infusion of talent from promising newcomers or a coaching staff with a proven tradition of winning. The SMU women's basketball team can claim all three.
Coming off an 18-12 season, the Ponies welcome back all five starters from last year - or six, including Katie Gross, a starter in 2005-06 who sat out last season with an injury. A strong defender and an exceptional long-range shooter - her 128 career three-pointers are the third-highest total in school history - Gross will be one of four seniors on this year's squad, giving the Mustangs the most experienced roster they've had in years.
FRONTCOURT
Post Janielle Dodds returns for her senior campaign with a chance to re-write much of the team's record book. A second-team all-Conference USA honoree last year, Dodds already is the No. 6 scorer in SMU history with 1,367 points through three seasons, and needs 419 points - a total she exceeded in her sophomore and junior seasons - to become the leading scorer in school history. Dodds, who has earned all-conference recognition in each of her three seasons on the Hilltop, scored in double figures 28 times last year and led the team last year in points (478), rebounds (226) and blocked shots (42). Dodds also was the team's most accurate three-point shooter, hitting 9-of-21 (.429) shots in her junior season.
"Janielle is our go-to player," SMU head coach Rhonda Rompola said. "She always has been able to score in the paint, and last year she really expanded her offensive game by stepping out more and being a consistent perimeter shooter. We know she's going to be double- and triple-teamed, but that's to be expected for a player who has accomplished as much as she has. Now teams will have to account for her all over the floor."
Rompola said that the biggest improvement to Dodds' game this year might come from the return of Gross to the SMU lineup.
"Katie is a very consistent shooter, and a very good three-point shooter," Rompola said. "But she's a lot more than just a shooter - she's a six-foot guard who knows how to pass the ball inside, and against the press she can really attack because she can see over people. Having her back will make us a much better shooting team, and that will take some pressure off Janielle inside."
The rest of the frontcourt rotation will include sophomore Delisha Wills, a Conference USA first-team All-Freshman honoree last year after she led the Mustangs in rebounding (6.1 per game, including a team-high 79 offensive boards) and finished second on the team in scoring (9.4 points per game). A perimeter player a year ago, Wills is moving this season to power forward, where her quickness and strength should allow her to take advantage of opponents who aren't as athletic as she is.
"Delisha is a great rebounder - that's really her strength," Rompola said. "She has excellent quickness, which allows her to drive, and once she gets inside, she's able to create space. If anything, she was too unselfish last year. We're going to tell her to keep putting it up, and since she'll be closer to the rim this year, I really expect to see her rebounds and points go up."
The Ponies will rely heavily this year on junior forward Elbie Gates, a 40.5 percent shooter last year off the bench; and sophomores Alice Severin, a strong rebounder (her 152 boards a year ago were the third-highest total on the team) who has the flexibility to contribute at both the post and power forward positions; and Catherine Campbell, a sophomore post who proved to be an effective rebounder and defender in limited minutes as a freshman.
Gates was a key reserve last year for the Ponies, adding 3.4 rebounds per game to her scoring, but Rompola said Gates will contribute more this year as her shooting improves.
"Elbie is getting more consistent as a shooter, especially in that 10- to 12-foot range," Rompola said. "She's a little like (Wills), in that she's got a knack for rebounding, so she does a great job getting what we call 'trash points.' She's not really big, but we want her to be more consistent when she gets the ball in the paint."
"Alice is one of the best defenders we have on the team," Rompola said. "She's a great post defender, and for a freshman, you don't see that very often. The fact that she did that so well in her first year was exciting. Now we need her to become more of an offensive threat for us. She's already a good defender and a good rebounder, but sometimes she just thinks too much - we need her to just react. She's an exceptionally smart player, and she knows what she's doing, and what we need from her. When Janielle is out of the game, we need her to just play more instinctively and score more."
Campbell played less last year than the rest of the 2006-07 freshmen, but Rompola lauded Campbell for the effort she has put in during the offseason, when she has been among the team leaders in the weight room and on the track.
"Catherine didn't get the minutes last year that the rest of the freshmen did, so I think the game kind of played out at supersonic speed for her last year," Rompola said. "But she has worked extremely hard this offseason, and she is in a position to help us in a lot of ways. She's a strong rebounder, she sets excellent picks and she plays smart defense. We need that defensive presence from her."
In addition to Gross, the Mustangs will have a trio of players on the wing: senior Sharee Shepherd, sophomore Brittany Gilliam and freshman Haley Day. Shepherd was the team's top defender last year with a team-leading 65 steals, and she also contributed offensively with 7.7 points per game, including 21 three-pointers.
Wing Sharee Shepherd is the team's top returning defensive specialist, having collected a team-leading 65 steals last season and finishing second on the team in blocked shots and assists.
"Sharee is a playmaker for us," Rompola said. "She has quick hands - she's the best player on our team at deflecting passes and making steals. She gets some scoring chances that way, but we need her to score more within the offense. If she can get more consistent with her mid-range jumper, her impact on our offense will be even greater."
Perhaps the most improved player on the SMU roster this year is Gilliam, who relied a lot on instinct in her debut season.
"We can already see a huge difference in Brittany," Rompola said. "She sees the game so well, and she knows defense well. She's able to pass the ball inside to Janielle and make sure she gets it. She's just a very smart basketball player. Our biggest question last year was her work ethic, and she acknowledges that. That's where we've seen the biggest change."
BACKCOURT
Katy Cobb returns to the SMU backcourt after starting in 27 of her 29 appearances last year. Cobb led the Mustangs in assists with 79, while chipping in with 8.6 points per game, the third-highest scoring average on the team.
"Katy is a very versatile player who is going to play both guard spots for us," Rompola said. "She's a good shooter who has shown the ability to score off the dribble, which makes sense because she is the fastest player I've seen with the ball since I've been here. Not only can she score for us, she has the speed to break a press by herself, which is invaluable."
In the backcourt, the biggest change will be sophomore Jillian Samuels taking over as the starting point guard. As a true freshman, Samuels led the team in three-pointers attempted and made, hit nearly 80 percent of her free throws and chipped in with 29 steals.
"She's a totally different player this year," Rompola said. "Our expectations were high last year, but they're much higher this year. She's basically an extension of me. She thinks like I do, and I'm very comfortable with the offense in her hands - I want her to take charge out there. I expect her to improve her midrange jumper, rather than just relying on the three, but she's already got a lot of moves. I expect her to be a premier point guard, not just in the conference, but in the entire country. She's capable of becoming a national-caliber point guard."
NEWCOMERS
The Mustangs add three new players this year. Point guard LaShandra Hill and wing Haley Day were the Most Valuable Players in the 4A and 5A tournament championship games, respectively, while Brittani Allen is a junior college transfer who was brought in for her pure shooting ability.
"LaLa (Hill) just gets it, basketball-wise," Rompola said. "For a freshman, she gets it, and that's not something you see all that often. We're instilling a better work ethic, but what I like about her there is that she knows she needs that - she actually tells me to stay on her. On the floor, she's got great hands and quickness. She can blow by you, and now she has to learn how to finish."
"Haley Day is the darling of Rockwall (Texas)," Rompola said. "There are going to be games when the entire city of Rockwall will be there to see her. The thing I really like about Haley is that she absolutely hates to screw up - I love that about her. She's a very intense player who does a great job going to the board and goes full-speed all the time. The thing for her is that she has played in the low post through high school, and now we're moving her to the wing. But she has a picture-perfect perimeter shot - it's just a thing of beauty."
Allen was signed out of Northeastern Oklahoma A&M for one reason to further bolster the Mustangs' long-range shooting.
"We needed to add a shooter because of all the attention teams paid to Janielle and all the zone defenses they threw at us," Rompola said. "Getting Katie Gross back and adding Brittani is like adding two. I sent (assistant coaches) Deneen (Parker) and Karen (Blair) to the Junior College Nationals and told them to find us a shooter, and they came back talking about Brittani. When teams go to a zone against us, she's going to be told to put it up - she's a pure zone-buster."
The Mustangs play a schedule that features the traditional tough battles against Conference USA teams, as well as an attractive balance of non-conference opposition.
"This schedule is one of the toughest we've had in a while," Rompola said. "If we can win some of our non-conference games, that's going to help us when it's time to make a push for the NCAA Tournament. We play three Big 12 teams in Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Kansas, and we have some very good teams from the East Coast like Coppin State and Hofstra. Playing well against those teams will help us with east coast media and postseason voters."
Looking back at an 18-12 season last year in which her team scored 68.2 points per game, Rompola said scoring is the area in which her team needs to - and should - improve the most.
"I was not happy with the way we performed offensively last year," Rompola said. "Janielle is an extremely talented player, and she's still our go-to player. But when you add players like we have - and you have to include Katie Gross in that group - and get the improvement we think we'll get from our returning players, it's easy to get optimistic."
Rompola said that while teams focus on Dodds, Gross, Cobb and Shepherd, last year's surprising freshman class could step into even larger roles as sophomores.
"These sophomores - I think they were good last year, but they can get a lot better this year. I really think they'll take a lot of pressure off Janielle Dodds and the seniors. This team is deeper than it has been in years, and I think that will help make us really competitive. We're going to have a lot of players competing for playing time, earning their playoff time. They know that if they don't get the job done in practice or in games, there's somebody waiting there to take their spot.
"I really like this team - I'm attached to this team. I want this team to have a good year, because I want these seniors to be successful. They've accomplished a lot, but the one thing I still want for them is to get to the NCAA Tournament."
