The Playbook: Year 3 

An occasional series about University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Head Coach Cathy Inglese and her quest to turn around a program.

By Laura Pappano

The URI Women’s Basketball team opens the season Friday at the University of Delaware and enters Year Three of the Inglese Era squarely in rebuilding mode.

“We will live and die with a young team,” Head Coach Cathy Inglese said last week from her office in the Ryan Center. With last year’s seniors gone – including scoring powerhouse Captain Megan Shoniker – and senior talent Lara Gaspar out for the season with a torn ACL, five freshmen recruits, says Inglese, “will play a lot.”

(The five freshmen are: Rhode Island native Corinne Coia a 6-4 forward; guard Teneka Whittaker; guard Megan Straumann; guard Sydney Lewis; and guard Marie Byrnes.)

Injuries are a challenge in every sport and for every team (last year recruit Emilie Cloutier was out) and, some suggest, are becoming an epidemic in college sports as more players start younger and play year round. (Article here). Despite a spate of pre-season injuries — ankles, a concussion, strains — Inglese says this year’s recruits bring real potential.

“This is the best class of players we have brought in at URI,” says Inglese. Building a program, in other words, is just that — building. You don’t go from attracting fair recruits to luring superstars overnight, says Inglese. “Each year I try to bring in a class that is better.”

Young means certain things. For example, says Inglese, don’t expect lots of mid-game adjustments; the goal is to scout well and set a strong game plan in advance. In games and practice, she says, you emphasize basics – and repetition. During games, players will look to the sidelines — not, say, a senior leader on the court — for guidance.

“We as a staff can’t assume anything,” says Inglese.  “We have to be the ones directing them and reinforcing on a continual basis. We need to make sure we are communicating what our expectations are.”

In practices, assistant coach Stephanie Tobey is pressing for consistency in effort and skills. She wants them to “understand what it means to come everyday and bring a complete a focus and be in the zone.” And there are constant reminders of a basic directive: “Chin the ball” to keep it from opponents.

Who will be a scoring machine? Unclear. Who will emerge as a key player? Wait and see.

That’s part of the fun.

What is apparent is that these kids are eager. They have a strong work ethic and are pushing the whole team. “My assistants are out there everyday with kids who want to come to practice early or come in between classes. That never happened my first year or so,” says Inglese, adding that more players are also asking to watch extra film.

So what will the season look like?

“We are going to be a work in progress,” says Inglese. “That will be frustrating, and at times, exciting.”

URI staff members Chris Passmore, Cathy Inglese, Cindy Blodgett, Stephanie Tobey, Nerlande Nicholas.

An occasional series about the University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Team and Coach Cathy Inglese as she tries to turnaround a losing program.

By Laura Pappano

The game got away.

The Richmond Spiders harassed the Rams, orchestrating a 66-53 victory in URI’s Ryan Center yesterday. It was yet another tough loss for URI’s quest to be an A-10 contender.  They are now 0-3 in conference play and 6-11 overall.

How did it happen? After all, URI led the entire first half and was up by one at the break. More than that, the Rams were winning the battle of the boards. At halftime, URI had recorded 31 rebounds to the Spiders 13 and by the end of the game they had a 42-30 rebound advantage. So they can get their hands on the ball.

So how DID it happen?

Richmond simply capitalized on the fact that while URI is growing – sharper, faster, quicker – they don’t yet play consistent ball. A too-fast, eager push down the court –holding the promise of two – suddenly is racing back the other way, delivered through the opposite hoop by the time anyone has figured out what happened. This is not, after all, the era of old-style women’s basketball, slow it down and set it up. This is fast, up-tempo ball that at times looks perfectly acrobatic, but that requires a level of control that is stunning. URI has it — in flashes and spurts. But not on every play. And not enough yesterday to beat Richmond in the whole game.

The other stats tell that story: Richmond scored 26 of their 66 points off URI turnovers. Plus 17 points off fast breaks. By contrast, URI scored 8 points off turnovers and just two off fast breaks.

But — alas — this is why rebuilding is so frustrating. It is not like flipping a switch to go from losing to winning. It is a climb. It is about reaching for better control, better moves, better technique — and then making it the ordinary, the normal, way things are done. “That’s what makes teams mediocre,” says Coach Cathy Inglese. “It’s not all talent. It’s focus and consistency.”

While Inglese doesn’t SEEM like a very patient person — particularly if you watch on the sideline of a game — she understand that everything cannot change at once. The teams has pushed through a string of double (and even a triple) OT games, showing that even those several ended as “L’s” they were in it and fighting. They were competitive, just not competitive enough.

Inglese wants more energetic play — and this year it is obvious that her players are fitter and faster. “I was really pleased with our energy,” Inglese said afterwards. “We did a good job on the boards, but it came down to turnovers. It was turnovers.”

Game stats showed that URI yesterday did a lot of things well. Unfortunately, the only number that counts is the one on the scoreboard at the final buzzer. Yesterday it was 66-53. On Wednesday, they take on a tough Charlotte team. Look for progress — but just be willing to measure it by more than than a single set of digits.

Coming on Wednesday: Q&A with URI Captain Megan Shoniker.

Megan Shoniker faces Abby Oliver, who scored 24 points against the Rams photo credit: Madeline P.

The Playbook: Year 2

An occasional series about the University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Team and Coach Cathy Inglese as she tries to turnaround a losing program.

By Laura Pappano

At halftime, I thought there was no way.

Yes it was close, the half ending at 23-21, with Fairfield up by two. But Fairfield was in a rhythm. Their shots fell. Their passes were crisp and smart. They were getting inside. They seemed to know where teammates were, moving like dancers in a well-choreographed piece.

Rhode Island was scrappy, unsure. Players seemed surprised when passes arrived in their hands. Shots were close, but bounced out, skimmed the rim, fell like sour notes in a concert. These were ugly baskets.

In the end, of course, it doesn’t matter how you get the points. For those who love the art of basketball, know that by the end the Rams were elegant, with acrobatic drives through the paint and sailing 3-pointers that slipped through the net. Captain Megan Shoniker (#10) made three and Ashley Rivera (#12) made a key long basket in the final three minutes of play to put the score at 48-44 before a fouling festival by Fairfield brought the final to 52-44.

In the second half, the Rams played like a team that expected to win. They were rising, stepping, and shooting with a confidence that suggested that whether or not they deserved it, they decided to own it. They did not so much win this game as take it. They persisted, even when trailing by 10 points.

So what did Head Coach Cathy Inglese say at halftime? What were the magic words?

She says, she just complemented them, focused on telling them what they were doing right. “We were getting the looks, we were taking the shots. We were just missing them,” she said. “They were a little hyped up. I said, ‘Be patient.’”

Fairfield is a good team. “They are a strong offensive team,” observed Inglese. “They don’t waste a dribble or a pass. But our kids just kept going.”

It’s far too early to tell what this all means. Yes, it was he second come-from-behind win on the road within days (on Saturday they closed a six-point half-time gap against NJIT to win 57-51).

Yes, the early rankings have URI near the bottom of the A-10. But the beauty of leading a turnaround is that you don’t worry about what is supposed to be. You don’t listen to the conventional wisdom, to the downer that three players are out with injuries, to opponents that were 3-0, to the goofy band guys in red and white striped shirts razzing you at the foul line. You don’t dwell on the schedule that has you on the road for a tough stretch.

You play with heart. You play with passion. You play with discipline. You make mistakes. You move on. You step up and try again. And again. And again. Sure, Fairfield might have had more plays, better passing. But in the end, Rhode Island was in it for every single minute of the game.

An occasional series about University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball Team and Coach Cathy Inglese as she tries to turnaround a losing program.

By Laura Pappano

The image unfolded as an accident. At a recent practice, a player scrambling to save a ball heading out of bounds couldn’t stop herself and went crashing into the line of chairs at court’s edge, sending them falling over one by one – as University of Rhode Island Head Coach Cathy Inglese observed, “like dominoes.”

Only, the last few didn’t fall. So Inglese walked over and sent them crashing down.

It was meant as a light moment – an intense Inglese showing off her fun side – but it might as well have been part of the Rams playbook: We’re starting fresh. New season, new challenges.

It has not been a cakewalk for this URI women’s basketball team. They barely missed post season play last year, they have a mostly new staff, and the season –ugh– is starting with a few injuries. Still, this group has grit and they opened their season yesterday against Colgate with a 59-47 win.

Year Two of Inglese’s quest to build – not just a team, but a program, has officially begun. Now that the initial hoopla buy-into-the-vision is over, What does that look like?

Like the tumbling chairs, rebuilding is a chain-reaction. It is a step-by-step process in which one bit of success pushes forward another – something as small as a bench player shedding pounds and deciding to make a run at more playing time.

Inglese and assistant coach Marnie Dacko, former head coach at the University of Massachusetts and Inglese’s one-time teammate at Southern Connecticut State University (and both inductees into the Connecticut Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame), talked about the start of the 2010-2011 season.

FGN: How does this year feel different than last year?

CI: We’re building on the on the culture we created. The players have bought into our coaching style and what it takes to be successful. This summer, the players came for summer school and they stayed for both sessions. So they came into this season in great shape. Last year they weren’t in shape. There were some drills at the beginning of last season that I wanted to do, that we couldn’t do. Now they can make it through practice. It shows their commitment to a work ethic.

FGN: Last year, you just missed the A-10 tournament. What did you say to players at the end of the season?

CI: You always want to make your conference tournament. We did well, but it was a three-way-four-way tie and it came down to tie-breakers. I told them I was pleased with their efforts. They never gave up. We always felt we could win the next game – and they never felt they defeated and that is really important.

FGN: You mention that attitude, that mindset a lot. Why does it matter?

CI: There is this stuff on the surface that everybody sees. But there is a lot that happens down here (Inglese, sitting in a chair in her office, gestures with her hands). We are doing a lot of stuff down here that people don’t see. And that is building a culture that we talked about. Even though we lost games at the end of the season, we always felt we could win the next. We put up some lay up or foul shots [that didn’t go in] – and those are the little things you have to get down and then those 5, 6, 7 losses become wins. We never got blown out. It’s one layer at a time.

FGN: You have mentioned part of building a team is recruiting better, faster, stronger, players. Recently, you recruited Lincoln School 6’ 4” senior center Corinne Coia to next year’s team, a top RI player. How hard is it to land talent these days?

MD: Cathy was successful at Vermont, she was successful at BC. [High school prospects] nowadays are much more visible than they have ever been. So you won’t find kids in the woods or a small town. It’s a challenge. But Rhode Island is a well-kept secret in New England.

FGN: You are a veteran coach and you happened to play against URI last season. What do you see here ?

MD: Last year, I gave Cathy her first A-10 win [laughs]. Cathy inherited a program at rock bottom. First, I saw that the president [David Dooley] and his wife [Lynn Baker-Dooley] are huge advocates for the success of women’s basketball. They come to the games. It starts from the top and works down to the team.

The kids on this team are working hard at practice everyday, they are pushing each other verbally and physically on the floor and working toward a common goal. And they are not threatened by bringing in talent. They don’t say [when we bring in potential recruits to practice], “Oh coach is bringing in someone who’s 6’5” will I still get a chance to play?” They want a better program.

Inglese and Dacko at URI

The Rams gather before the game; freshman Anisha Wilson

The Playbook

The Playbook is an occasional series on University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball team and head coach Cathy Inglese as she works to turn around a losing program. See most recent prior entry here.

By Laura Pappano

When Coach Cathy Inglese called a time out with 10:32 left in the second half, the Rams were down by one, trailing St. Bonaventure, 40-39. The music system at the Ryan Center pumped out up-beat lyrics, “Girls Just Wanna Have Fuh-uhnn!!” and it looked like there could be some celebrating when this was over. Celebrating because winning could let the Rams squeeze into post-season play in the Atlantic 10 tournament (only the top 12 go and they were in a three-way tie for that last spot).

Inglese, with all her intensity (it’s not clear why she has a seat in the sideline because she is pacing, calling, shouting, cajoling her players or the refs) draws plays on her clipboard, reminds them to hang tough, but warns — ineffectually, it turns out — “no more fouls!”

The fouls have been killing them. Every other minute, it seems, there is a Bonaventure player at the foul line, especially No. 5 Dana Mitchell ( she shot 12 of 13 from the free throw line). When it’s all over the stats show that the Ram got four shots (made 3) and St. Bonaventure had 30 shots (making 25) from the foul line.

For a tightly fought game that ended 63-53, that is a massive mis-match in free throws. Rhode Island fans, (including Inglese’s younger sister) let the refs hear their displeasure: “Call it at BOTH ENDS!!!” Was it unfair? Should Apolo Anton Ohno have been disqualified in the 500m short track event? Hard to know, given how aggressively both teams battled at both ends of the court.

This is DI basketball and things happen — or don’t happen. The Rams lost. Their season ended. But what was striking about the game, coming as it did slapped as the finale on a 11-game losing streak, was that if you hadn’t known of their struggles, you would never have guessed.

They played at times brilliantly — sharp, intuitive passes, steals, speedy Anisha Wilson tearing down the court or scrappy Lara Gaspar leaping up and twisting in all kinds of traffic to float the ball through the hoop (she scored 22 points).

Later, after her team slipped on warm-ups and ducked out beneath the blue and white streamers and balloons hung optimistically over the locker room entrance, Inglese would push aside her frustration — and when you are building a program there is plenty of that — to give her team credit. Yes, there were problems, including “a lack of consistency, a lack of urgency” and the need to say “the same thing four times.”

“They have battled hard,” said Inglese. “This team has learned to compete. They have lost — how many games in a row? — and every game they come out and they are here to compete.”

The year has ended with a 9-20 record, which is at the high end of what Inglese expected. “I thought we could win 0-10 games this year,” she said.

Winning DI teams aren’t built overnight, but assistant coaches Megan Lanham and Ashley Earley are already talking about next year and the four new recruits: Kerry Wallach (CT); Kiley Hackbarth (IL); Shikkirrie (RiRi for short) Turpin (FLA); and Emilie Cloutier (Quebec).

Lanham and Earley tick through each player’s qualities. Wallach is a 3-4 player who is a “workhorse,” a “competitor” who “will get the top of the rim.” Hackbarth is a point guard, a “spark plug” with great ball-handling skills and, says, Lanham, “one of the best work ethics I have ever been around.” Turpin, says Earley, “is going to rebound for us,” she is also “explosive offensively.” And Cloutier, both predict, “will be the most athletic on the team” with great vertical ability.

Why did they like so much about these four? “All of these kids are used to winning,” says Earley. “That was our deal with these kids,” says Lanham, “hard-working competitive kids that are used to winning.”

Junior captain Megan Shoniker slaps hands during pre-game introductions

Coach Cathy Inglese wants tougher defense against Holy Cross

The Playbook

The Playbook is an occasional series on University of Rhode Island Women’s Basketball team and head coach Cathy Inglese as she works to turn around a losing program. Check out previous installments here, here, here, and here.

By Laura Pappano

With 3:31 to go, it is a six point game, 65-59, Cathy Inglese’s URI Rams trailing Holy Cross at the Hart Center in Worcester.

Three good things have just happened: 1) Lindsay Harris sunk two foul shots, 2) the Rams flat out rejected a Holy Cross shot, sending it skittering away from the basket at a downward angle, and 3) a few seconds later URI freshman Anisha Wilson, a 5’6” bundle of speed and intensity, leapt up, Randy Moss-like, and stole a Holy Cross pass out of the air.

Time out called. Rolling Stones come on mid-song at full volume. URI fans rumble the wooden bleachers with their feet. Could this be it? Could this be the momentum-shift URI needs?

Coach Inglese, clipboard in hand, kneels on the wood floor in her pinstripe slacks. “Listen up here,” she says, and starts drawing and shouting over the music with an intensity that has every player focused on her black magic marker and the message that comes with it: “We are playing reactive!” We need to push them on defense. Don’t just stand there! Don’t just be a body! Emanate energy! Challenge them physically!  “We are GIVING them OPEN THREES!!”

When it is over, 80-71, Holy Cross players are whooping it up in celebration, banging their fists against metal AC venting in the hallway leading into the locker room.  And why not? It’s their first home win and the end of an 8-game losing streak.

For URI, which entered this game 7-7, the loss came down to defense – and three-pointers. Holy Cross was a stunning 13 for 22 (59.1%) from 3-point land. (Game stats here.)

Put another way, they scored 39 of their 80 points on threes. If those shots had been two’s the score would have been 67, not 80.  How do you defend against that kind of shooting?

Before she steps into the locker room – as she does before halftime and (though more briefly) during time-outs – Coach Inglese gathers her coaching staff to hash over what they see, what stats show, and proposed adjustments.

There is always a message, but part of building a team, Coach Inglese will say later, is that she needs to give the same message many times, that some players “get it” and some still don’t. That like someone learning new dance steps who is suddenly lost when the full-tempo music comes on, DI basketball is a detailed, skilled business that runs at warp speed. It takes time to master.

At halftime, she let them know that they had dug a hole, but warned, “I’m not asking anyone to play extra ordinary.” Her message then was about defense and team play. “Everyone is out there doing their own thing. That was 10 games ago. The games we’ve won, we’ve played as a team,” she says. “They are jacked up. We let them get hot. It’s all about you. It’s not about them.”

Despite the message that if they played their game (instead of just responding) that they could win, it happens some — but not enough. In the locker room afterwards,  there is the smell of sweat and the sound of silence. The players sit on wooden benches, shoulders slumped, knowing what’s coming. Coach Inglese, intense, but purposeful, fires. “What lost us this game?”

After a very long quiet, a voice offers, “Defense.”

“Our transition defense was God awful!” she says. “This team is not that good! We made them look good!”

She is concerned that players aren’t making the adjustments she’s asking them to make. “What are you guys afraid of?” she asks.

Her point is this: if opponents keep beating you on drives to the basket, if they keep beating you on three-pointers, then know they will do those things and step up your defense against those tendencies. “You’ve got to make them beat you on something else!! Make them beat you another way!!!”

Her messages to players during time-outs (plus halftime) have been the same messages — and that’s the well of her frustration. As she wraps up, she gives them the positives – they outscored their opponent in the second half (four players scored double digits), they out-rebounded Holy Cross (34-30) and killed them on the offensive boards (17-7). Later, when they are showering and heading to the bus, she gathers some perspective. They are good kids, no attitude, no eye-rolls — nothing — when they are yelled at or yanked for messing up. They listen. They are trying.

At 1:42 a.m. Coach Inglese e-mails. She has gone over the film and she wants to point out that there are some small, but worthy developments. Players are talking and interacting more, showing more emotion.  When one player was knocked down on defense, another jogged over and helped her up.  “Believe me,” she writes, “this was big. Small signs that mean a big thing.”

And, she acknowledges, Holy Cross was hot.  “I wish the outcome could have been a little better,” she writes, “but after watching the game tape I have to say that Holy Cross hit a lot of big 3’s…we were on them for many and they still put them in.” (Video post-game interview with Coach Inglese here).

By Laura Pappano

It’s starting. New uniforms are arriving. Coaches of other RAMS teams that bump into staff of the URI women’s basketball team are chatting about the season. For the first time in years there is anticipation that this year — maybe — could be the start of something. But as Head Coach Cathy Inglese and her assistants — including two former pro players – prepare for tomorrow’s exhibition game and the season opener next week against Fairfield University, there remains a lot of work ahead for a team that won three home games last year.

Inglese challenged her new team this summer, pressing them to improvetheir grades. Her philosphy: You can’t be excellent on the court and mediocre in the classroom. Players responded.

Now, how do you go from being used to losing to understanding how to win? From playing better on the road to developing a fan base and a home-court advantage?

Coach Inglese, asst. coaches Ashley Earley, Amber Jacobs, and Megan Lanham, director of operations Steve Wallace, and team captain junior Megan Shoniker, spoke with FairGameNews about some of the challenges of teaching players a new system, new expectations — and at the same time building support on campus and across the state for a team that may not — YET — have all the talent it needs to finish near the top of the conference and, dare say, make it to the NCAA tournament.

FGN: As a player, Megan, you were here last year. Does it feel any different now?

Megan Shoniker: It’s a lot different. We are reaching out more and getting people’s attention, going into the community.

Megan Lanham: With men’s basketball, people go and it’s a sport they watch. For women’s basketball, you need to build a sense of ownership. People want to know the players and the coaching staff.

Cathy Inglese: I’ve been out talking with people, groups. I say, ‘We are the State University. We are your University. Come support us. We want to make you proud.’

Steve Wallace: I talk to  my friends and they say they say they don’t go to women’s basketball. I say, ‘Come to one game and you will be hooked.’ And they come and they are.

FGN: How does the team look?

Megan Shoniker: I was really excited about Julia [Barac], one of our freshmen. But she’s gotten injured.

Megan Lanham: We are excited about Megan. The question marks on our team are the point guards. We have two freshmen. That will be something to watch develop.

Cathy Inglese: We need to have some kids stepping up – and it’s still early. I think Julia could be very good. I know she worked hard over the summer and she came back ready. But consistency, that to me right now is our issue. Right now the system is all new to everybody. This is one of my favorite times of the year. I don’t care what the heck anyone else is doing, I’m not looking at scouting reports. I am teaching our players what they have to do on and off the court. Part of it is creating that strong core, teaching them what it’s like to compete, what it is like to go hard.

FGN: I understand that you care a lot about fundamentals. What does that mean?

Amber Jacobs: We break every little thing down. Even the smallest footwork matters like a jump stop or a pivot or jab and go. You learn those in 7th grade, but to break that down again as a college player and build on that to dribbling moves and defensive stances – how to beat your player off that first quick step – footwork and fundamentals are key.

Cathy Inglese: What a lot of kids don’t want to do is break it down. They just want to go out and play. But I’ve noticed that it pays dividends with kids. We run a lot of set plays, but we also look at the fast break. We need to be sure we have smart players so when somebody doubles on the screen, they know what to do…Right now they are running to where they need to be, but not executing. Executing is knowing how to react to the various defenses that are thrown at them. There are all these layers as teacher and coach.

Ashley Earley: The system we ran at Vanderbilt was built on fundamentals. That was one reason I wanted to work for Cathy. As a coach, you can’t skip this step. What’s most exciting to me is to see our evolution. I’m excited to see the team come together. Right now, we are still a group, not a team. But we are 10 steps closer to being a team than we were this summer.

FGN: The Atlantic 10 pre-season coach’s poll has the team finishing 12 out of 14. Does that bother you?

Megan Shoniker: It’s a smack in the face. You never want to be 12 out of 14, but we have yet to prove we deserve higher than that. It’s our job to prove them wrong.

Cathy Inglese: Pre-season polls are guestimates. It’s how you finish at the end. Obviously we are hoping to be much higher than 12th.

FGN: There were also no URI players named to the first, second, third or defensive teams in the Atlantic 10. How does that reflect on your team?

Megan Shoniker: There are a lot of talented players in the A-10.

Cathy Inglese: We are here to change the culture of what people think about URI Women’s Basketball. The players on our team have to get better, but we also have to bring in better talent.

FGN: It seems like a Catch-22. How do you bring in better talent when the program has had a losing record?

Megan Lanham: The responses we are receiving in recruiting [for next year] are great. Having Cathy’s name attached to us is getting us in with high level players. They are calling us, they are visiting, high school coaches are contacting us. People know this is a building year. That’s been established. But there is an excitement to build a tradition and be part of hanging that first banner, to be a difference-maker in a high level conference. And Cathy is regarded as one of the best coaches in the nation. What kid wouldn’t want to come here?

THE PLAYBOOK

By Laura Pappano

Go ahead and debate whether or not it’s a good thing, but women’s college basketball is changing: Young women don’t just talk about D1 ball as a way to cover the cost of a college degree, but see it as a path to the pros.  Certainly, some players have always aspired to keep playing — in the WNBA, for the USA, or in Europe. But increasingly female players come to college with hoop dreams.

“It’s a change,” says University of Rhode Island head coach Cathy Inglese, noting that’s one reason she hired two assistant coaches with professional experience: Ashley Earley (Vanderbilt ’05 who made 4 NCAA tournament appearances and played in Israel) and Amber Jacobs (BC ’04 who played in the WNBA 2004-2008). Inglese says one of the point guards she recruited this spring, Anisha Wilson from New Haven, CT, has pro aspirations. “Anisha wants to play in the WNBA,” says Inglese. “It’s something she has brought up.”

Sure, there were mixed reactions when Epiphany Prince announced in June she would skip her senior year at Rutgers to play in Europe and enter the 2010 WNBA draft. The worry: Are the women headed down the road of men’s college ball, where many hardly sit through a class before making their way into the NBA? Are inner-city girls now going to think basketball — and go light on the studies?

Unlikely. The troubling example of inner-city boys who plan for NBA careers only to be lost and uneducated at 20 is more about educational guidance and engagement (or lack of) than basketball. The professional venues for women don’t — dollarwise, anyway — negate the necessity for a college degree. Even Prince promises she’ll get hers. (We’ll check). On the other hand, this development will only improve the quality and competition of D1 play.

Meanwhile, let’s talk about coaching.

During her year sabbatical Inglese visited top D1 basketball programs and sat in on practices run by the best coaches in the business —  Geno Auriemma (Connecticut), Pat Summitt (Tennessee), Tara VanDerveer (Stanford), and Gail Goestenkors (Texas), among others.

Some take-aways:

1. When you coach, says Inglese, “you’ve got to do what is your personality. You can certainly pick and choose the drills, people do different things with video. It’s nice seeing it, but you’ve got to go with what you feel and be consistent. If you are up and down that confuses the kids.”

2. “You need to have leadership, a person on the court who sets the goal and creates a standard,” says Inglese, who believes Megan Shoniker could be that person for URI. “When I met with the team in the locker room, we were talking about goals and things and Megan said, ‘I don’t want the winning to start two years from now, I want it to start doing it now. I want to win now.’ She is a gutsy kid.”

3. “Geno and others, they let their staff be involved in the teaching and breaking down at practices. I used to think I had to bring the energy all the time to practice. They have to bring that themselves,” she says.

4. Inglese says she noticed the intensity at practice.  “The top coaches are into detail and being disciplined and doing things hard and game-like. That is something I have always known, but it was good seeing that.” In other words, practice how you play.

The Playbook

By Laura Pappano

The first game of the upcoming season – against Fairfield University (18-13 last year) – is months away, but Coach Cathy Inglese is thinking about it. More pointedly, she’s thinking about the work she and her team have ahead of them to competitive in that game – and in the season.

In a visit to her new digs on the second floor of the Ryan Center (note: supernice facility) last week, Inglese showed off her freshly-painted lemon yellow office. The color — more intense lemon rind yellow than lilting pale — is not an accident. This is a place that needs some zip. Inglese, just back from a month of recruiting (Virginia, Georgia, South Carolina, New York, D.C., Maryland, Chicago) is not new to building programs. She did it at the University of Vermont and at Boston College.

So even as she complains about how far behind she is, how much there is to do, Inglese is clearly far more comfortable with the pressure of a clock than having a a wide open year to contemplate the meaning of coaching. That was last year. It’s nice, she says, to have a purpose again, to be part of a program.

In this case, she’s inherited a mess – and she’s pumped about it.

“Look at this film room!” she says, pushing open the door to a small room a few strides from her office in the women’s basketball suite. Video tape is stacked on tables, shelves – orderless. Down the hallway, newly-hired staff and assistant coaches (more on them in next installment) are in offices that hardly look unpacked, let alone organized. But everybody is busy. Working. Meeting.

The team IS behind. But it wouldn’t be the first time. Before Inglese was named head coach in April, departing coach Tom Garrick (56-112 record) did a mea culpa, apologizing for losing so much (56-112 over six seasons).

Last year, they won just three games at home.  The other stats aren’t any better:  Opponents outscored URI 929-738 in the first half and 972-922 in the second half. In key statistics (free throw, field goal, 3-pointed, rebounds) they were trounced. (URI had edge in steals). Click here for stats.

“I would love to say .500 or above,” as a goal for a win-loss record this season, says Inglese. But she insists she is building for the long term and that means tackling a deeper issue: Getting rid of the losing culture. That means no more dogging it in practice – or in the classroom. That means no cutting classes or saying you e-mailed that paper when there’s no evidence you did. It means practicing like you intend to play.

Because she was only with the team for two weeks in the spring, summer session was the first time Inglese could give players a taste of her expectations. When she discovered that the team GPA was 2.4, she was… “really disappointed.” Not just because she’s a coach who boasts a 100 percent graduation rate, but because she believes you can’t be great in one arena and lazy in the other. There is a connection between life and sports, school and basketball – and she wants players to understand that, too.

“I tell the kids I don’t like mediocrity. I don’t like just getting by,” she says. “I want these kids to know what it takes to be successful. I want them to work hard in the off-season and learn how to win.”

It may be too soon to tell if Inglese can spur a mindset shift. But in her first challenge to them – earn a 3.0 for summer school grades – they responded with a 3.3. “To me that’s something. Our kids were coming in talking excitedly about what grades they got in summer classes,” she says. (The Women’s Basketball Coaches Association in July announced teams with the best GPA’s. Indiana State was top in DI with 3.645)

It’s early, but Inglese sees several keys to turning around the program – short and long term:

1.    Leadership on the court. “You have to have a person on the court who sets the goal, who sets the standard.”

2.    More basketball talent and especially players who get the ball in the basket. “You can’t win a lot of games scoring 54 points a game – and that’s what they averaged last year.”

3.    Limit turnovers. “We have to take care of the ball more. That comes with the teamwork.”

4.    Hard work. Positive attitude. “They are tired of losing and they are at least saying they want to win.”

5.    Understand success is not immediate and keep focused on the goal, realizing in the interim that some losses are better than others. “It is scary to work hard and not win, but even if you don’t win you can measure progress in other ways. Maybe this year you lose instead of by 20 points, you lose by 5.”

Her job? Inglese needs to get to know the players better to understand how to motivate them individually. They are all making short videos of their families and homes to share as a team when they return. Inglese is also listening to a request from players: get more fans in the stands at the Ryan Center (last year’s average home attendance was 2,223).

“The biggest thing the kids have said is, ‘Please ask people to come to our games,’” says Inglese. “People are excited in the community here, Rhode Island is a big basketball state. This is something I promised the players I would work on.”

The big game is tonight! Before the NCAA’s D1 Women’s Basketball March to the Arch, I spoke with Cathy Inglese, former head coach at Boston College whose teams made it to the tournament six of the last eight years (plus were Big East Champions in 2004). She has spent this year visiting the nation’s top programs, watching games and practices — and getting a veteran’s courtside view of women’s D1 basketball.

FGN: What makes women’s basketball today special?
CI: What makes the women’s game so exciting to watch is the teamwork both offensively and defensively. The play is very team-oriented and this year the players are stronger, more skilled, and more athletic than ever before. For example, you’ve got players like Courtney Paris who are consistently recording double-double games – that’s double digit points and double-digit rebounds.

FGN: How does such a team-oriented game translate into to how this tournament has progressed?
CI: The most interesting thing about this year’s bracket was its parity. Besides UConn, who I think play on a level above that of the other teams, on any given night any of the top 50 teams could beat each other. What it came down to was the matchups, how each team’s particular dynamics played out against their opponent’s. It’s not always the best talent that determines the win.

FGN: What should we expect to see from University of Connecticut?
CI: UConn portrays a real team dynamic; they practice hard and really play together and mesh together as a team.

FGN: Which players should we be watching in tonight’s game?
CI: Maya Moore from UConn, for one. She is an energetic player who works hard all the time. You’ll notice in tonight’s game how unselfish she is. She’s extremely athletic, but she also meshes well with her teammates. Maya’s teammate Renee Montgomery is great point guard for the team and a big scorer. She distributes the ball very well, getting the ball to the player that’s open. She makes those people around her better. Look for Angel McCoughtry and Candyce Bingham tonight as well, playing for Louisville.

FGN: Thanks so much for your insight, Coach Inglese. So, do you plan to get back into college coaching?
CI: Absolutely. I love what I’ve been able to do during this year as far as visiting other teams and meeting coaches around the country, but being part of a team is what I’m really missing right now. I’m chomping at the bit to get back into coaching.

Savanna Johnson is a Wellesley College senior and swimmer who is a three-time NCAA qualifier and two-time NCAA Academic All-American. She holds NEWMAC conference and meet records in the 50 yard freestyle. Johnson (who also runs track) holds Wellesley College records in seven swimming and three track events.