Kansas City Kansas Community College

2009-10 / Women’s Basketball Schedule

With only two returning veterans, a promising corps of freshmen will carry women’s basketball hopes at Kansas City Kansas Community College this season.

The Blue Devils open the season Tuesday, Nov. 3, with a home game against Saint Mary’s JV at 5 p.m. and host Cottey College Friday (6 p.m.) and Penn Valley Saturday (4 p.m.) in the annual Keith Lindsey Classic.

“Obviously, we’ve got a lot of freshmen with no college experience but that could be a blessing in disguise in that they don’t know what to expect and aren’t intimidated,” said Coach Valerie Stambersky, who is beginning her 11th season at the Blue Devil helm.

Also on the plus side will be the most size the Lady Blue Devils have had in several years and the potential for offense. “This should be one of the better scoring teams I’ve had and we have a lot of depth inside,” said Stambersky. “We have some very talented players who although they haven’t a lot of experience, will continue to improve over the course of the season.”

Leadership is expected to come from the two veterans, 5-10 guard Shannon Carlin of Tonganoxie and 5-10 forward Sarah Craft from Lawrence Free State. Carlin started 26 games last season and was third in scoring with a 7.1-point average and hauled in 4.6 rebounds a game while Craft was second in rebounding (5.7) while averaging 3.5 points in 12 starts.

“Shannon’s biggest strength is her athleticism,” said Stambersky. “She’s quick and can jump and worked a lot in the off-season and pre-season on getting more consistency on her three-point shot. Sarah is a very solid rebounder, very fundamental with a lot of attention to detail who can score with her back to the basket or off the dribble.”

Size in the front court will come from 6-1 Laci Schreiber of Shawnee Heights, 6-0 Michelle Selbe of Piper and 6-0 Melanie Phipps of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, although more will come when Meleane (Ofa) Mace from the isle of Fiji becomes eligible the second semester. “Our post players are really solid this year,” says Stambersky, who will also play Craft at the power forward at times.

Three southpaws are among the freshmen guard hopefuls, 5-10 Alyssa Rushton of Rochester, Minn.; 5-6 Jerae David of Burlington, Colo.; and 5-5 Ashley Wham of Burden, Kan., along with 5-5 Brenna Wilson, a righthander from Garnett.

“Rushton can score off the dribble and from the 3-point line and David is very quick and can flat out guard on the perimeter,” said Stambersky. “She’ll get a lot of her offense off steals. Wham is also an aggressive defender on the perimeter while Wilson is a good spot up shooter.”

Two international students, 5-7 Annie Rowan of Portobelle, Scotland, and 5-7 Anna Belousova of Riga, Latvia, will battle it out for playing time at the point guard position. “Rowan is very fundamentally sound, a good passer and great shooter from three while Belousova is a good defender who shoots well,” said Stambersky, who is being assisted by Alicia Roth and Tony Armstrong.

The Blue Devil mentor is hopeful a busy early season schedule will help her young squad transition into college level play. “There are still a lot of unknowns because of so many newcomers,” she warns.

In addition to the Keith Lindsey Classic Nov. 6-7, the Lady Blue Devils will compete against Hesston and Brown Mackie in Salina Nov. 13-14 and the AIB Classic in Des Moines Nov. 20-21 before returning to host Missouri Valley Nov. 24.

The schedule has a new look. With the annual Jayhawk Shootout at Coffeyville moved back to Jan. 7-8, Jaykhawk Conference play will begin before the semester break with games at Highland Dec. 2 and at home against Jayhawk power Labette Dec. 5.