WBB Mid-Season Grades; WS Goes International for HC

I've been meaning to get these up for a few days, now, but I've been a little distracted, if you understand what I'm saying.

Women's basketball. I won't put all the extra stats into this one that I put into the men's grades a few weeks ago (simply because my advanced stats are out of date and I have no interest in updating them at present), but I figure something is better than nothing. We'll start at the point and work our way down the bench.

Tara Davis
With the loss of Tarita Gordon before the season even began, a lot was expected of TD. While her point totals are high, that's mostly because of her excellent free throw shooting; when she isn't drawing fouls, she's not going to score 20 points, and the team hinges on that. She also continues to turn the ball over at an alarming rate (5.5 TO/game, roughly 24% of the team's turnovers), and has more than once found herself in foul trouble early in a game. All that said, if Davis can continue to push the 20 point mark every night, ETSU should have no trouble from here to the end of the regular season. B

Natalie Pickwell
The local product has had some pretty impressive averages this season. At an even 11 points per game and a very solid 37% from beyond the arc, Pickwell has show the ability to really produce some highlight reel plays from time to time. That latter part is the problem: prior to the Kennesaw State game, Pickwell hadn't hit a trey in the second half in the Mountain all season. If she can find her touch at the other end of the floor consistently, which should be easy considering how little she turns the ball over, we could be in for some big performances from Pickwell down the final stretch. Definitely a player to watch going forward, as I think she's capable of more than what she has shown us. B-

Destiny Mitchell
As well as Mitchell has played for this team, I could sit here all day and turn Chuck Norris facts into Destiny Mitchell facts (it might even make them funny again). She has been, by far, the best player on this team this season. The move from PF to SF hasn't affected her game at all, even if it takes a prospective three point option away from the starting five. That's really about the only weakness I've seen in Mitchell this season. She keeps the turnovers reasonable (2.5/game) and the steal totals are excellent (2.1/game). She's a fast, intelligent player who has rarely made a mistake this season and gives ETSU a player that they can really bank on to hold down a starting spot for another three years. A+

Latisha Belcher
Tish has been an extremely valuable player for this team: the other three big post players combined (Miles, Benedict, and Austin) barely match Belcher's averages. While she isn't the same player she was before the medical redshirt, she's still exemplary on the defensive glass, and has given ETSU another major post threat besides Mitchell, which is very important, because teams are going to look to take away the perimeter options come tournament time. She hasn't been earth-shattering by any means, but she has been a solid, productive, and useful senior that should play a big role at the tournament. B+

Tosha Austin
I haven't noticed Austin out there that much. I didn't even realize she had as many starts as she did (16) until I looked up the numbers for this piece. It's not that she hasn't been decent in sparing minutes, but she hasn't really done anything to make herself stand out. Austin is still just a sophomore, but she needs to make her presence felt out there a little more. C

Gwen Washington
It's tough to get a read on Gwen's play. She had her starting streak snapped this year and saw a massive dip in form in the early stages of conference play. That has affected her numbers severely, but over the course of the last home stand, she has seen a real renaissance. She has averaged an even eleven points per game over the home stand, peaking with a 14-point performance against Mercer. While it doesn't totally make up for some of the really poor games she played early in the season, she's getting hot at the right time, and having that presence off the bench could be big for this squad. Heck, if she has a good game against Gulf Coast, she could be back in the starting lineup in DeLand. B-

Shawn Randall
Randall has been more what I expected out of a true freshman than Mitchell. She shows great flashes: her transition game is good, she's responsible on the defensive side, and she does have the ability to put up points, but everything comes in fits and starts for her. She makes reckless plays with the basketball, resulting in bad shots and a high volume of turnovers, and those will limit her playing time, but she's developing. On the whole, passable, but by no means great. C+

Iesha Robinson
In a parallel universe, Iesha Robinson is a collegiate superstar. She has the raw talent, or she wouldn't even be at this level. She has the ability to hit shots and scoop up big rebounds, but for whatever reason, she just can't find any semblance of consistency with the basketball in her hands. Even for her limited playing time, her shooting totals are downright bad. Kemp is undoubtedly trying to work with Iesha on her game and help her develop, but she has to go a long way in a short time if she wants to be an impact player in her upper years. D+

Jasmine McIntosh
What McIntosh has shown really bodes well for her future. The ability to drop the trey consistently is a very valuable asset on Kemp-coached teams, and despite her modest per game totals, J-Mac has really found her stride as we've gotten into conference play. She has nowhere to go but up, and if she can fine tune her defense, she's going to get a lot of touches in the offense next year, or maybe even late in February this year. B

Incomplete due to limited viewing (<150 minutes played)
Ashley Benedict
Ashley Miles
Akaycha Robinson

That's done. Moving on.


The women's soccer team announced it's new head coach this week: Birmingham (English one) native Adam Sayers, formerly of USF. While I haven't met him and obviously don't know much about his philosophy on the sport, his resume is impressive. He holds a UEFA license, and they tend to put folks through their paces on managerial training. He also has roots in the region from his days at MTSU and playing days at Tusculum. His recruiting resume is impressive, and with one of the best, if not the best recruiting class in the program's history coming in last fall, it'll be essential that he can find a way to utilize those younger talents to move the program forward, as well as injecting new underclass talent to supplement them as they get ready to graduate.

Elsewhere in the A-Sun, Belmont announced its new women's head soccer coach: Heather Henson. I think we've got ourselves a bit of a rivalry brewing. In the words of Terrell Owens, get your popcorn ready...