November 19, 2000

'Berg women win season-opener

By John Montgomery
Sports Writer

If the Shenandoah Valley (Va.) Hornets forgot what veteran players can do for a team since losing four starters to graduation last year, Heidelberg's Nicole Camper and Rachael Poland reminded them Saturday.

Camper tallied a double-double in points and rebounds while Poland led all scorers with 26 points in The 'Berg's 90-38 season-opening rout of the Hornets.

That duo led The 'Berg all game, but the most importantly in the first half.

Poland, a junior who now needs just four points to overtake coach Karen McConnell for eighth on The 'Berg's all-time women's scoring list, dropped in a pair of free throws just nine seconds into the game to give Heidelberg the only lead it would ever need.

Camper then scored eight of The 'Berg's next 11 points before Poland put back her own miss to give Heidelberg a 15-12 lead with 14:12 left in the half.

Heidelberg edged out 17-12 on an Amanda Ellison (4 points) jumper from the wing at the 13:11 mark before both teams went through a cold stretch for the next minute and half.

But then The 'Berg picked it up a notch with tough defense and their running game, and it was Camper and Poland would made it count.

Poland tossed in 12 points over the final 11:41 of the half and Camper added two more buckets to help Heidelberg take a 43-21 halftime lead.

And when Camper was scoring, she was pulling down rebounds -- six in the first half.

"Certainly, the key was that they couldn't stop Camper inside, and then our transition. We're much quicker than them," McConnell said.

"We need to be an aggressive team, but I wanted to just try to get us into the flow a little bit and not pick up any stupid fouls that might make us a little more tentative or give them (Hornets) an edge."

An edge was something Shenandoah never had, and it only got worse for the Hornets in the second half.

By the time they scored with 16:20 to go in the second half, they trailed 49-23 and never could mount any opposition.

The Hornets committed 31 turnovers, hauled in just seven offensive rebounds and shot just 36.4 percent from the field.

Along with big games by Camper and Poland, McConnell said another big plus in the win came from getting quality time from all of her players.

All but two of The 'Berg players scored, all but two had an assist and everyone grabbed a rebound.

"I was pleased with the bench. We were able to bring everyone in," she said. "This is good from the standpoint that it's a confidence builder and everybody got in."

Two of those off the bench were Columbian graduates Katie Fazekas and Kris Keirns, freshmen whom McConnell praised.

Fazekas only had four points, but led the team with four steals and tallied five assists, second only to Amy Ellison's six, while also grabbing two rebounds.

Keirns gave The 'Berg eight points and an assist.

"It's wonderful, from my standpoint, to have good locals," McConnell said. "These are the first Columbian players that I've coached. You don't like the good ones to get away."

Amy Perkins and Amy Ellison both scored seven points for The 'Berg, Jamie Radosevich netted six, Jessica Risner had five, Michelle McIntosh popped in four and Jennifer Semenario had two.

"There was a point in the second half where it was layups (all the time), just layup after layup. I think that builds the foundation for some of those outside shots going in later, because we're putting the ball up with confidence," McConnell said. "I think we have to be realistic, though, and I think the girls are.

"They know things aren't going to happen as easily (as this) and we're going to have to fight and work for everything we get," she said. "But when you get in a flow like that, you have fun and it's important to have fun."