StevenHW
Starter
From http://www.newsday.com/sports/college/ny-skmarc094655457mar09,0,5953460.column?coll=ny-sports-columnists
LOCAL COLLEGES
McHUGH DESERVES MUCH PRAISE
Steven Marcus
LOCAL COLLEGES
March 9, 2006
Stony Brook University women's basketball coach Maura McHugh is owed a party. Every other coach hired in Jim Fiore's administration has been feted with balloons, speeches and a big welcome from fans, colleagues and athletes. McHugh's moment may be at hand, though she likely (and gladly) will share it with her team, which could be on the verge of making its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Tournament.
Second-seeded Stony Brook (19-8) is in Hartford for the America East Tournament and will face No.7 Vermont (9-17) at noon tomorrow. Win the three-day tourney and there's an automatic bid; two victories should earn Stony Brook an at-large berth to the NCAAs.
"We want to seize the moment," forward Dana Ferraro said. SBU has an RPI of 29, nine ahead of top-seeded Hartford. Teams with RPIs under 40 usually are selected for the NCAA field.
Stony Brook's turnaround under McHugh has been dramatic. She took over a team weighted down by a protracted divorce between the university and former coach Trish Roberts. McHugh was hired on an interim basis Sept. 10, 2004.
Fiore would have given her a contract on the spot, but she demurred because her family lives in Arizona. She also wanted to see what she was getting herself into. As with the men's team, there hadn't been much basketball cheer in the Division I years, which started in the 1999-2000 season. The women did advance to the championship game of the America East Tournament in the 2001-2002 season, but that was more becauseof happenstance as higher seeds fell, allowing SBU to make the title game in a 16-14 season.
McHugh's team went 8-20 last season. Fiore wanted her back but McHugh, who had previously coached in the WNBA and had guided Arizona State and Oklahoma into the NCAA Tournament in a 25-year career, wasn't so sure.
"I told the team I wasn't coming back unless they were serious about playing basketball," she said. "I told them my life has been spent coaching basketball and I can't coach this kind of basketball. I said I don't want to do it and you shouldn't, either."
It wasn't until April 26, 2005 that McHugh decided to stay, saying, "There was work to be done."
Stony Brook had some good players, it just needed direction. Jessica Smith, Mykeema Ford and Ferraro are three of the top performers in the conference and McHugh added transfers Leah Getz from Southampton and junior college transfers Sidney Orndorff from Idaho and Farah Vasquez Jacobo from Arizona. That helped offset the loss of three players to injury. McHugh then had to make the mix work.
"Any time you get a new coach you have to learn her style," senior Jessie Boylan said. "We knew we had the talent and finally we had the coaching staff. We put ourselves in the right track."
The early indications that something special could be in store occurred on Dec. 2 when the Seawolves beat nationally ranked Temple.
"I think we completely exceeded everyone's exceptions when we beat Temple," Smith said.
It was a building block that became cemented throughout the long conference schedule that was punctuated with a victory over Hartford on Feb. 22 that snapped a 15-game winning streak for the Hawks. While the at-large bid looms, the goal is the America East title.
"We need to win it," Smith said. "We can't be satisfied and hope for an at-large bid."
McHugh said the same, though she believes Stony Brook already has stated its NCAA case.
"Our strength of schedule is very high, our RPI is very high," she said. "We've beaten quality opponents and are doing a great job in our league."
A record season?
At 19-8, Stony Brook is having one of its best seasons in women's basketball. A look at its top records through the years:
Year Division Coach W-L Pct.
1986-87 III Dec McMullen 24-5 .828
NCAA Tournament
1983-84 III Dec McMullen 23-7 .767
1993-94 III Dec McMullen 18-6 .750
1988-89 III Dec McMullen 21-8 .724
NCAA Tournament
1980-81 III Sandy Weeden 19-9 .654
1980-81 III Sandy Weeden 17-9 .654
Division I
1999-2000 Trish Roberts 18-10 .643
2000-2001 Trish Roberts 16-12 .571
2001-2002 Trish Roberts 16-14 .533
2002-2003 Trish Roberts 9-19 .321
2003-2004 Trish Roberts 7-21 .250
2004-2005 Maura McHugh 8-20 .256
Tomorrow: Stony Brook vs. Vermont at America East quarterfinals
West Hartford, Conn., noon
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
LOCAL COLLEGES
McHUGH DESERVES MUCH PRAISE
Steven Marcus
LOCAL COLLEGES
March 9, 2006
Stony Brook University women's basketball coach Maura McHugh is owed a party. Every other coach hired in Jim Fiore's administration has been feted with balloons, speeches and a big welcome from fans, colleagues and athletes. McHugh's moment may be at hand, though she likely (and gladly) will share it with her team, which could be on the verge of making its first appearance in the NCAA Division I Women's Tournament.
Second-seeded Stony Brook (19-8) is in Hartford for the America East Tournament and will face No.7 Vermont (9-17) at noon tomorrow. Win the three-day tourney and there's an automatic bid; two victories should earn Stony Brook an at-large berth to the NCAAs.
"We want to seize the moment," forward Dana Ferraro said. SBU has an RPI of 29, nine ahead of top-seeded Hartford. Teams with RPIs under 40 usually are selected for the NCAA field.
Stony Brook's turnaround under McHugh has been dramatic. She took over a team weighted down by a protracted divorce between the university and former coach Trish Roberts. McHugh was hired on an interim basis Sept. 10, 2004.
Fiore would have given her a contract on the spot, but she demurred because her family lives in Arizona. She also wanted to see what she was getting herself into. As with the men's team, there hadn't been much basketball cheer in the Division I years, which started in the 1999-2000 season. The women did advance to the championship game of the America East Tournament in the 2001-2002 season, but that was more becauseof happenstance as higher seeds fell, allowing SBU to make the title game in a 16-14 season.
McHugh's team went 8-20 last season. Fiore wanted her back but McHugh, who had previously coached in the WNBA and had guided Arizona State and Oklahoma into the NCAA Tournament in a 25-year career, wasn't so sure.
"I told the team I wasn't coming back unless they were serious about playing basketball," she said. "I told them my life has been spent coaching basketball and I can't coach this kind of basketball. I said I don't want to do it and you shouldn't, either."
It wasn't until April 26, 2005 that McHugh decided to stay, saying, "There was work to be done."
Stony Brook had some good players, it just needed direction. Jessica Smith, Mykeema Ford and Ferraro are three of the top performers in the conference and McHugh added transfers Leah Getz from Southampton and junior college transfers Sidney Orndorff from Idaho and Farah Vasquez Jacobo from Arizona. That helped offset the loss of three players to injury. McHugh then had to make the mix work.
"Any time you get a new coach you have to learn her style," senior Jessie Boylan said. "We knew we had the talent and finally we had the coaching staff. We put ourselves in the right track."
The early indications that something special could be in store occurred on Dec. 2 when the Seawolves beat nationally ranked Temple.
"I think we completely exceeded everyone's exceptions when we beat Temple," Smith said.
It was a building block that became cemented throughout the long conference schedule that was punctuated with a victory over Hartford on Feb. 22 that snapped a 15-game winning streak for the Hawks. While the at-large bid looms, the goal is the America East title.
"We need to win it," Smith said. "We can't be satisfied and hope for an at-large bid."
McHugh said the same, though she believes Stony Brook already has stated its NCAA case.
"Our strength of schedule is very high, our RPI is very high," she said. "We've beaten quality opponents and are doing a great job in our league."
A record season?
At 19-8, Stony Brook is having one of its best seasons in women's basketball. A look at its top records through the years:
Year Division Coach W-L Pct.
1986-87 III Dec McMullen 24-5 .828
NCAA Tournament
1983-84 III Dec McMullen 23-7 .767
1993-94 III Dec McMullen 18-6 .750
1988-89 III Dec McMullen 21-8 .724
NCAA Tournament
1980-81 III Sandy Weeden 19-9 .654
1980-81 III Sandy Weeden 17-9 .654
Division I
1999-2000 Trish Roberts 18-10 .643
2000-2001 Trish Roberts 16-12 .571
2001-2002 Trish Roberts 16-14 .533
2002-2003 Trish Roberts 9-19 .321
2003-2004 Trish Roberts 7-21 .250
2004-2005 Maura McHugh 8-20 .256
Tomorrow: Stony Brook vs. Vermont at America East quarterfinals
West Hartford, Conn., noon
Copyright 2006 Newsday Inc.
