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Posted Jan. 30, 2002

The 'new guard' is in place, so to speak, for both the men's and women's defending national champions, each of which has put itself in position to contend for a title again, due in large part to some fresh talent in the backcourt.

That's the common thread that links Catholic University, a newcomer to the concept of defending a title, and Washington University of St. Louis, the four-time defending women's champs.

Neither Cardinals freshman point guard Bobby Henning nor Bears junior shooting guard Laura Crowley are the go-to players on their team, but both have been significant additions to a pair of already-talented teams.

In replacing scorer Pat Maloney, Bobby Henning has reached double figures just five times, including a career-high 17 points in a 92-85 overtime win at Goucher last Saturday. But he has nine or more assists in five games as well.

Henning, a Brick, N.J., native, has stepped in and changed the role of his position. Whereas now-graduated All-American Matt Maloney was more of a scorer, Henning is a passer and defender first. He is averaging only 7.8 points, but 5.9 assists per game. On a team with no seniors but still plenty of talent, Henning has stepped in and no one has missed a beat.

"(Junior forward) Matt Hilleary has been our MVP, but Bobby's been the key to keeping us at a national level," said Cardinals coach Mike Lonergan. "He may be a freshman, but he hasn't played like one."

Crowley has emerged as Washington has changed to a team that is more reliant on the 3-point shot. Whereas in past seasons, the 3-pointer was a second option if national players of the year Alia Fischer and Tasha Rodgers couldn't score, this time around it is more of an offensive tool. Crowley, a transfer from Division II Rockhurst, is the second-leading scorer behind injured forward Robin Lahargoue. She had the best seat in the house last season under the worst of circumstances, sitting out a season after suffering a torn ACL, but got to help cut down the nets at the Final Four in Danbury before even playing a game.

"Transferring in general was hard, but getting hurt made it more difficult," Crowley said. "It was a great year. I was able to get accustomed to the tradition of the program and the style of play. I was right there (when the Bears beat Messiah for the national title) and I'm really grateful for that."

The other thing that Crowley got used to quickly was Washington's championship mentality of treating each game like its own season, never looking ahead and never mentioning the words "national championship."

"After the national anthem the other night, the PA announcer said our record, and Laura and I looked at each other and said we couldn't believe that we had played that many games," said Crowley's backcourt mate, senior Lendy Stuber. "We don't set the title as our goal at the beginning of the season. We just say that we're going to play the best we can and enjoy it. If we win the title, that's the ultimate (reward)."

The Cardinals, 17-1 and ranked No. 2 nationally, only have one blemish on their record, an opening-night loss at William Paterson in a rematch of last season's championship game. Both Henning and Hilleary say that has become a positive experience.

"We showed that we were capable of playing good teams," Henning said. "We also showed that we are capable of losing to anybody."

Said Hilleary — "It was a reality check. Losses can build character, depending on how you react to it."

Both Hilleary and Lonergan admit that sometimes the Cardinals' confidence has become a little bit of overconfidence. That's what winning a championship does to a team that has never done it before. At Washington, which is 18-0 and rated No. 1, there's no signs of that. The Bears are a team that has learned where the line is drawn.

"It seems unimaginable to some people, but we don't talk about our titles," Crowley said. Adds Stuber: "It's a new team every year and it's pretty fun to come in and see how the team meshes together and plays itself out."

So far, both are doing just fine.

ANOTHER NEW JERSEY NEWCOMER: Western Maryland freshman point guard Kelly Cramp, who scored 21 points in Saturday's upset win over Muhlenberg, might be the most versatile athlete playing Division III basketball. Cramp, a Pennington, N.J., native played basketball, softball and tennis at Hopewell Valley High School and was also one of the state's top female scholastic golfers. Additionally Cramp, the second leading scorer on this season's team, is nationally reknowned in the non-contact martial art, Wushu and won honors for the USA at the 1995 Pan American Games.

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM: The Hope women fell from the ranks of the undefeated last week, as junior center and leading scorer Amanda Kerkstra (pictured) has been on the shelf for four games and counting with a stress fracture in her hip. The Flying Dutch survived games against Alma and archrival Calvin without her, but lost the third game, at Albion 65-64. Hope, which fell to 17-1, was outrebounded 40-33. The team bounced back, however, to beat Kalamazoo 70-60, as head coach Brian Morehouse might have found the answer. Freshman Adelynn Vilmann, who entered the day averaging 2.6 points a game, ignited the Dutch with a 14-point, eight-rebound effort off the bench, shooting 6-for-7 from the floor.

MILESTONES: Kings Point sophomore guard Rebecca Segert scored 35 points and had 12 rebounds in a 95-23 win against Brooklyn. She finished the game with 1,019 career points in a little more than a season and a half ... Babson coach Judy Blinstrub won her 300th game last Saturday, when the Beavers defeated Clark 80-42. That improved Blinstrub's mark to 300-161 ... Senior Jill Dewane, a native of Denmark, became the all-time leading scorer at Lakeland in Saturday's 68-47 win over Wisconsin Lutheran. A free throw late in the first half gave Dewane 1,949 points, topping the previous Lakeland record of 1,948 set by Lakeland Hall of Fame member Stacy (Urbas) Pieper, who played for the Muskies from 1985-89. Remember our Milestones feature, for an exhaustive list of 1,000 and 1,500-point scorers, as well as coaching win milestones.

GAME OF THE WEEK: Grove City defeated Westminster (Pa.) in a three-hour quadruple-overtime thriller, 111-101 at Buzz Ridl Gymnasium in New Wilmington, Pa. It was the longest game in the history of either team, as both have basketball programs that date back to the late 19th century. Pool B candidate Grove City improved to 14-5 while Westminster fell to 7-12. Seven Grove City players scored in double figures, led by Tanner Prosser with 23 points. Pat Roberts added 17 points and game-high totals of 14 rebounds and eight assists. Mike Hill scored a career-best 28 points in the loss for Westminster.

Notes for Around the Nation are compiled with the help of sports information directors across the country. If you have suggestions or information for this column, please send it to mark@d3hoops.com.

Previous columns
2007-08 columns
March 6: Faith restored
Feb. 27: John Jay, Cinderella
Feb. 21: No safety net
Feb. 14: Ursinus better enough
Feb. 8: Hope-TMC on collision course
Jan. 31: Plattsburgh's big shot
Jan. 24: UMD answers call
Jan. 18: Like Bosko, like son
Jan. 11: Keystone stakes
Dec. 13: Unstoppable
Dec. 7: UWW aiming deeper
Nov. 30: Coach's shadow lingers
Nov. 15: Strong duo
2006-07 columns
2005-06 columns
2004-05 columns
2003-04 columns
2002-03 columns
2001-02 columns

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