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Last Updated: Dec 12th, 2007 - 14:11:56 |
The Lady Corsairs and fist-year head coach Kara Newman exceeded expectations for the 2005-2006 season and hinted at the bright future ahead for the College of the Redwoods women’s basketball program.
Newman, an assistant at CR last year, inherited a program that mustered just two wins in its prior campaign and managed just seven wins since the 2001-2002 season.
Things looked positive for the Lady Corsairs even before the season began.
With her infectious enthusiasm, the rookie coached managed to recruit last year’s Humboldt-Del Norte Conference MVP, Shauna Strickland and McKinleyville’s Kaitlinn Solinsky.
“Kara is just enthusiastic about it,” said Strickland at November’s ‘Meet the Corsairs’ press conference. “She’s looking to win our conference and I wanted to be a part of that.”
Early in the season, that goal seemed all but unreachable.
Last year’s leading scorer, Evelyn Tupua scored 30 points in the season opener but stayed home with her mother, who passed away Nov. 17, during the next three games.
Redwoods would win two of those games before returning home to host the Nov. 25 Corsair Classic.
Tupua opted to play in the tournament and hit all 19 of her free throws in the first game then hit six 3-pointers in the championship game (CR lost to Southwest Oregon 68-66).
She remained at home as the team traveled to the Shasta Tournament days later. With Tupua and Strickland out (one game with a neck injury) CR lost both games.
Tupua returned to the lineup for the roadtrip to the Santa Rosa Tournament but Redwoods lost both games. During the trip, Newman kicked two players off the team. Sara Featherstone, who Newman had described as the team’s best defender, and Kristi Lewis were kicked off for disciplinary reasons. Jennifer Bice was also disciplined, but suffered a partial-season suspension.
Redwoods would close out the year by winning the Mendocino Tournament where Tupua scored 30 points in the championship game and was named tourney MVP while Solinsky earned all-tournament honors.
Redwoods took a 7-6 record into the new year.
At this point, Sarah Griffith had established herself as a capable point guard in Newman’s four-guard offense. Griffith’s left-handed dribbling and high-energy playing style forced opponents to play with a heightened awareness all game.
Tupua suffered a nasty ankle sprain in the Jan. 7 game at Southwestern Oregon, the last game before conference play, and was forced to sit out the next four games.
Redwoods would go 1-4 during the stretch.
The Lady Corsairs had learned to play without her in the lineup as Solinsky and Strickland assumed much of the scoring duties. Six-foot post player Katrina Denheyer showed flashes of dominance during the year and Melissa Throssel was a consistent scoring and rebounding force in the middle.
Bice showed home fans how valuable she is to the team by keeping the ball out of the hands of Feather River’s big post players in CR’s Jan. 14 win.
In late January, Redwoods went on a two-game roadtrip in which it saw Butte shoot the lights out in a 107-75 loss before being topped 92-69 by the up-tempo Siskiyous Eagles in the second game.
The Corsairs returned home for the last game of the month against then-undefeated Lassen and, in what turned out to be the theme of league play, came up just short to a good team and lost 73-65.
This game marked the emergence of defensive spark Chelsea Gayle, a 5-4 guard who showed a knack for making unexpected steals and rebounds.
Redwoods would travel to Butte after that and was edged by five points before seeing Lassen strip another game away three days later, this time the result was an 87-84 loss.
CR swept FRC in the following game and dropped its finale to Siskiyous at home on Saturday night.
Newman seemed to fit the description for what CR needed this year – a reason to hope. She helped the team top CR’s last four seasons’ combined win total by two. In, turn, the team gave her a reason to look forward to the future.
Redwoods will lose Denheyer, Griffith, Bice and Tupua but will return a core of players that made an impact in the Golden Valley Conference this year.
Could Newman and the Corsairs be a one-hit wonder? Will next year’s record look more like those of the early millennium?
Don’t expect it.
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Lady Corsairs, rookie coach excelled through adversity in past season
The Lady Corsairs and fist-year head coach Kara Newman exceeded expectations for the 2005-2006 season and hinted at the bright future ahead for the College of the Redwoods women’s basketball program |
Newman takes on full-time duties
The College of the Redwoods women's basketball program showed plenty of promise under the leadership of first-year head coach Kara Newman in 2005-2006, and now, thanks to her interim tag being removed, the program, and the coach, can continue with what they have started.
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