2007-08 NNU Women's Basketball Preview

By Craig Stensgaard, NNU Sports Information Director

A cohesive group of experienced players has eighth-year Northwest Nazarene University head women's basketball coach Kelli Lindley excited to get the season underway.

“It is really exciting to have four returning starters,” Lindley comments as she enters her eighth year with an overall record of 109-86, having earned NCAA Division II national tournament bids in 2003 and 2006. “This is one of those rare years where we have an experienced team, but are still relatively young in age…with only two seniors. It's one of our deepest years top to bottom and I am very happy with our personnel at every position.”

As the roster depth causes excitement, it's the style of play that has been the trademark of a Lindley squad, one that looks to play in fast-forward at every chance.

“Critical to our success is that we continue to keep getting better at being an up-tempo team and always take the opportunity to push the ball,” Lindley adds. “We have some very athletic guards and our team is in great shape and very capable of controlling the tempo for 40 minutes.”

The style that the Crusaders desire starts with the guards, and NNU returns point guard Mallory Whipple (Redmond, Ore.) for her junior season. “Mallory has started since her freshman year and I really think this will be a break-out year for her. She led the conference in steals (2.25 spg) and is a phenomenal defender. She knows our system and what I want the team to do, so that is already a bonus for us as we start the season.” Whipple averaged 4.7 points and 4.1 assists per outing as a sophomore, leading her team to a 16-11 overall record and a 10-6 Great Northwest Athletic Conference third place finish.

In addition to Whipple, Falissa Smith joins the Crusader backcourt out of Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon. “I'm excited to see Mallory and Falissa wreaking havoc on the opponents' guards. It's going to be a tough match-up for our opponents to go against both of them.” Smith comes to NNU having led her Southridge High prep teams to three straight Oregon 6A state championships.

“Sophomores Brittany Roggenkamp (LaCenter, Wash.), Lindsay Brady (Boise, Idaho/Bishop Kelly) and Janee Olds (Coos Bay, Ore./North Bend) all came back significantly better than where they left off last year. In addition to all being in excellent shape, I think all three of them are going to battle for playing time at the wing positions, as all three are capable of scoring in bunches.” As freshman last season, Olds averaged 9.7 ppg, while Brady and Roggenkamp scored 8.2 and 7.6 ppg, respectively.

“Barring any injuries, I think people will be surprised at how good our post play will be. Jen Williams (Boise, Idaho/Centennial) is coming off a redshirt year due to her back injury and if she is 100-percent at the beginning of the year, she will be one of our go-to players. She has looked outstanding in pre-season workouts and we all know how she finished off her freshman campaign (6.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg in 2005-06).”

“In addition to Williams we have Kristen Hein (Tualatin, Ore.), who really took off at the end of the season last year, and senior Nicki Schutte (Nampa, Idaho). Hein has an uncanny knack for scoring and Schutte will provide the senior leadership that the posts will need.” Hein averaged 8.0 points and 6.8 rebounds per team, tops among returning inside players, while Schutte averaged 5.6 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Also returning for the Crusaders are Krista Oliver (Oregon City, Ore.) and Paige Knudson (Pocatello, Idaho/Century/Sheridan College). Both appeared in all 27 games for the Crusaders last season, with Oliver scoring 2.9 ppg and Knudson 2.1 ppg.

Joining Smith in the freshman class are Katy Sullivan (Baker City, Ore.), Beth Johnson (Kent, Wash./Kentwood) and Heather Craig (Fairbanks, Alaska). Sullivan was an Oregon 4A all-state honorable mention pick as a senior, while Johnson averaged 8.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game as a senior at Kentwood.

“I really couldn't be happier with our personnel and their capabilities, so I'm excited to get going.”

The Crusaders open regular season play on November 16 th and 17 th against Cal State Stanislaus and Cal State Dominguez Hills in Turlock, California, with NNU's home opener coming over Thanksgiving weekend when they host their annual Thanksgiving Tournament featuring games against Cal State Stanislaus and Humboldt State University. Rounding out the four-team classic formatted tournament will be fellow GNAC member Western Oregon University.

NNU will play pre-season exhibition games against an alumni team on November 3 rd and at NCAA Division I Weber State University on November 9 th in Odgen, Utah.